Bitcoin surged nearly 3% in the last 24 hours, with
crypto hovering below and above $30,000 with global equity markets remaining
under pressure. At the moment the rate is close to the $30,000 mark and has
tumbled more than 50% below its November 10 all-time high of $69,000. The crypto
world has been riveted by the sudden collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin. The
Terra blockchain was halted and then restarted twice in recent days, as the
value of its main cryptocurrency, Luna, and the related TerraUSD (UST)
stablecoin collapsed following a wave of selling pressure.

Also Read | Top 5 cryptocurrencies of the day: BTC up by 3%, Terra LUNA trends at no. 1

Cryptocurrencies have been swept up in a sell-off in risk
assets, which has picked up steam as data showed rising US inflation,
increasing investor fears about the economic impact of aggressive central bank
tightening.

Bitcoin fear and greed index on Tuesday, May 17, 2022,
went from the extreme fear level of 14 to the level of 8 as per the
alternative. me. The Fear and Greed index is a technique for assessing
investors’ emotions toward the market.  

Also Read | Crypto Fear and Greed Index on Tuesday, May 17, 2022

Bitcoin is currently trading at $30,579.0, up by 2.82%.
In the last 24 hours, the highest it touched was $30,630.70 and the lowest was
$29,251.89. Bitcoin has a current market cap of $582,846,050,157. It has a
circulating supply of 19,042,168.00 BTC coins and a maximum supply of 21,000,000
coins.

China
re-emerged as second largest Bitcoin hub despite the crypto ban

The Chinese government has failed to take down
cryptocurrency operations as part of its crypto ban last year as China has
re-emerged as one of the world’s largest Bitcoin (BTC) mining hubs, according
to a Cointelegraph report.

Also Read | How China’s COVID lockdowns affect the world

China became the second-largest Bitcoin mining hub as of
January 2022, months after the local government banned all crypto operations in
the country, according to the latest report from the Cambridge Bitcoin
Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) on Tuesday.

Bitcoin miners in China accounted for 21.1% of the total
global BTC mining hash rate distributions as of early 2022, following only the
United States, which produced 37.8% of the total has rated as of January,
according to the data.

Also Read | California set to become cryptocurrency flagbearer in US

China was once the world’s largest Bitcoin mining
country, with the local BTC hash rate power accounting for more than 75% in
2019. The hash rate then plunged to 0% in July and August 2021, after a series
of crypto mining farm shutdowns in the country.