Bitcoin’s Layer-2 network, Stacks, recently woke up from a 9-hour slumber after experiencing downtime on Friday, June 14th. Stacks mentioned in a post that the delay in block production was due to unexpected mining behavior and a Bitcoin reorganization, where previously confirmed blocks on the network were invalidated and replaced with new ones.
The outage began at Stacks Block #153,917 around 4:13 am UTC on June 14th, with the next block not being created until 1:20 pm UTC later that day. Following the resumption of block production, the network’s token, Stacks (STX), plummeted over 8% to $1.89 within seven hours, according to CoinGecko. The price has since dropped further to $1.85, marking a 17.8% decrease from its weekly peak of $2.45 on June 12th.
In other news, a telecommunications company based in Shenzhen, Coolpad Group, announced that it is investing around $13.5 million in thousands of crypto mining rigs. The company disclosed in a filing on June 13th that it is purchasing 2,700 electronic computer servers for crypto mining from a Hong Kong-based company to be deployed in North America. This move will increase Coolpad’s computing power from 873,000 terahashes per second to over 1.5 million TH/s, equivalent to 1.5 exahashes per second.
Additionally, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) reported on June 14th that 94% of central banks are exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), with a focus on wholesale CBDCs used for payment and settlements. The BIS survey indicated a rise in the number of jurisdictions working on CBDCs, with more launching pilot projects.
Moreover, the adoption of US spot Bitcoin ETFs has been hindered by cautious financial advisers, according to BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer of ETF and index investments, Samara Cohen. Cohen stated that 80% of Bitcoin ETF purchases have come from individual investors, with registered investment advisers remaining wary due to the asset class’s price volatility.
In a separate development, over $100 billion has been raised for crypto startups since May 2014, and Donald Trump has expressed interest in courting the crypto vote by pledging to end what he calls Joe Biden’s “war on crypto.” Lastly, the creator of Axie Infinity, a Web3 gamer, aims to move away from Discord, while SocialFi is boosting gaming revenue.