ZUG, Switzerland and VANCOUVER, Jan. 14, 2020 /CNW/ - HIVE Blockchain
Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V:HIVE) (OTCQX:HVBTF) (the "Company" or
"HIVE") is pleased to provide the following operational update. The
Company announces that it has experienced a more than 20% increase
in newly minted Ether coins mined daily compared to its exit run
rate for the last 15 days in December
2019.
The improvement has occurred since the Company completed the
recent Ethereum network upgrade dubbed the "Muir Glacier" earlier
this month. Assuming no significant future decreases in the
price of Ethereum or significant increases in the current Ethereum
network hash rate, the increased generation of Ether coins is
anticipated to have a positive impact on HIVE's revenues from
Ethereum mining as well as gross mining profit as the upgrade did
not result in an increase in electricity power consumption.
"As one of the world's largest miners on the Ethereum network,
we are excited about recent developments on the network including
the beneficial impact of the recent network upgrade," said
Frank Holmes, Interim Executive
Chairman of HIVE. "The recent uptick in the number of unique
addresses on the Ethereum network also illustrates increasing
adoption of the network, which we hope will also result in an
increase in the price of Ethereum as such activity has been
correlated with the price of Ethereum coins in the past.
"Additionally, in a recent survey by Deloitte1, 95%
of survey respondents saw smart contracts as an important
blockchain capability. Ethereum is an open-ended, decentralized,
blockchain-based public software platform that facilitates such
peer-to-peer contracts, or "smart contracts", as well as
de-centralized applications," noted Mr. Holmes.
About Ethereum and Ether Mining2
Mining is the process of creating a block of transactions to be
added to the Ethereum blockchain. Miners essentially process
pending transactions and are awarded block rewards in the form of
Ether, the Ethereum network's native currency, for each block
generated. HIVE maintains a portfolio of Ether coins and sells some
for fiat currency in order to cover its mining and other operating
and administrative expenses.
Generating a block requires intensive computational work (or
hashing power) due to the difficulty set by the Ethereum network
protocol. This difficulty level is proportional to the total amount
of computational power (also known as the total hashrate of the
network) being used to mine Ethereum and serves as a way to secure
the network from attacks as well as tuning the speed at which
blocks (and block rewards) are generated.
In order to support the Ethereum network, developers need the
cryptocurrency Ether to create and run applications. Ether is used
to pay for transaction fees and computational services. Users can
send Ether to other users. And developers can write smart contracts
that receive, hold and send Ether.
About HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. is a growth oriented,
TSX.V-listed company building a bridge from the blockchain sector
to traditional capital markets. HIVE owns state-of-the-art
GPU-based digital currency mining facilities in Iceland and Sweden, which produce newly minted digital
currencies like Ethereum continuously as well as cloud-based
ASIC-based capacity which produces newly minted digital currencies
like Bitcoin. Our deployments provide shareholders with exposure to
the operating margins of digital currency mining as well as a
growing portfolio of crypto-coins.
For more information and to
register to HIVE's mailing list, please visit www.HIVEblockchain.com. Follow
@HIVEblockchain on Twitter and subscribe to HIVE's YouTube channel.
On Behalf of HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.
"Frank Holmes"
Interim Executive Chairman
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this news release.
Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news
release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning
of the applicable Canadian securities legislation that is based on
expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news
release. "Forward-looking information" in this news release
includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding the increase
in newly minted Ether coins and recent Ethereum network upgrade
having a positive impact on HIVE's revenues from Ethereum mining as
well as gross mining profit; increasing adoption of the network;
the potential increase in the price of Ethereum and, the Company's
future plans and growth opportunities.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in such forward-looking information include,
but are not limited to, recent upgrades and increased minted Ether
coins may not have a positive impact on HIVE's revenues, or gross
mining margin; the Company may never realize more efficient
operations, a lower cost structure, or greater flexibility in
operations; and other related risks as more fully set out in the
Filing Statement of the Company dated September 13, 2017 and other documents disclosed
under the Company's filings at www.sedar.com.
The forward-looking information in this news release reflects
the current expectations, assumptions and/or beliefs of the Company
based on information currently available to the Company. In
connection with the forward-looking information contained in this
news release, the Company has made assumptions about the positive
effects of recent upgrades and increased minted Ether coins. The
Company has also assumed that no significant events occur outside
of the Company's normal course of business. Although the Company
believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking
information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a
guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance
should not be put on such information due to the inherent
uncertainty therein.
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1 Source:
www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/se/Documents/risk/DI_2019-global-blockchain-survey.pdf
2 Sources: Ethereum.org and
cmegroup.com/education/courses/introduction-to-ether/defining-ether-and-ethereum.html
SOURCE HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd.