Bitcoin had a real roller-coaster week. The price dropped like a stone on Thursday, falling to five-month lows of just over $7,000, only to bounce back to over $10,000 on Saturday. This 40% price surge represents the biggest daily gain since 2011.

In China, President Xi Jinping declared blockchain technology to be an important innovation. He said the country must increase investment and accelerate development in the crypto space. Following his remarks, the National People’s Congress passed new crypto laws which come into effect next year. While centralized crypto exchange companies won’t be legalized, they do encourage crypto research and education, while promoting adoption and providing regulatory clarity.

Bitmain, the major ASIC manufacturer and miner, is converting a disused aluminum smelting plant in Texas, into a Bitcoin mining farm. The plant will initially provide 25 megawatts of mining energy but soon could scale up to 300 megawatts.

Bakkt, the Bitcoin futures exchange backed by the owners of the New York Stock Exchange, hit a new all-time high in trading volume. 1,131 futures contracts have been traded representing approximately $9.7 million in trading capital.   

Andreas Antonopolous tweeted regarding an issue on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain that an unknown miner has majority hashrate control. This miner found 21 blocks over an hour, where 6 would be the norm. It appears the miner is exploiting BCH’s difficulty adjustment algorithm.
 99Bitcoins