The Chinese mining pool Poolin partially resumed payouts of cryptocurrency to users whose hashrate tokens were blocked in the Mars protocol.
ERC20-tokens pBTC35A and pETH18C can be used in staking to receive WBTC and Ethereum. Each such asset represents 1TH/s and 1MH/s of computing power for the respective network. Holders also accrue native tokens of the Mars protocol.
In June 2021, Poolin ceased payouts on hashrate tokens. The decision by authorities in Xinjiang and Sichuan to halt cryptocurrency mining operations affected the company’s facilities, depriving it of the ability to obtain the underlying assets for pBTC35A and pETH18C.
According to a fresh press release, all Poolin-owned devices have been “taken off the shelves.” The company is gradually redeploying equipment moved out of China abroad. However, electricity costs at the new sites differ significantly from before.
When Poolin’s Bitcoin miners were in China, the electricity tariff was $0.058 per kWh. Now it is estimated at $0.08 per kWh (a premium of nearly 38%).
This also applies to Ethereum miners. Here, electricity costs have doubled—from $0.075 to $0.15 per kWh.
In addition to higher tariffs, the company has faced other difficulties:
“First, the sheer volume of mining rigs that must be shipped to various sites, along with substantial upfront capital expenditure. Second, recurring COVID-19 outbreaks affecting international and domestic logistics. Third, frequent loading/unloading, numerous stoppages and long-distance transport have led to damage to some devices (more than 20% of installations require repair).”
These factors led to reduced payouts on pBTC35A and pETH18C. Poolin introduced depreciation rate and online rate adjustment factors that account for the costs of relocating computing power and the number of devices in operation, respectively.
There are 214 601 pBTC35A outstanding, corresponding to 214 601 TH/s of Bitcoin hash rate. Poolin has resumed operations with computing power equivalent to 39 900 TH/s.
According to CoinGecko data, over the past week the price of pBTC35A rose by almost 25%, to $85.6. Over the same period pETH18C rose to $14.4 (+33.4%), Mars to $0.017 (+2.5%).
As reported in late July the hash rate of Bitcoin and Ethereum began to recover as miners migrated from China.
Subscribe to ForkLog news on VK.