Bitcoin and ether both responded positively late in the week to the latest US Labor Department jobs release - which showed a rise in jobless claims. 

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Bitcoin (BITCOMP) began last week trading just below $17,000. It fell as low as $16,600 midweek before recovering to over $17,000 again thanks to the latest jobs report. It is now trading around $16,745. 

Ether (ETH-X) meanwhile began last week above $1,280 before moving down to around $1,220. With the jobs report however it surged back above $1,270. It then trended downward again over the weekend and now sits around $1,230. 

With the holidays approaching, the market appears to be settling back into a similar pattern to that of major equities. There has been some evidence in recent months that the correlation between each market was at least drifting apart. 

But with ongoing volatile trading conditions, it looks like investors have become more sensitive again to global macroeconomic updates such as the jobs report which moved the crypto market last week. 

Bank of England seeking crypto wallet provider

The Bank of England has opened applications for crypto projects to provide it with a “proof of concept” digital wallet, as it continues to look at the potential for a central bank digital currency (CBDC). 

CBDCs have been somewhat forgotten amid the bigger stories of 2022, but it's clear that work on them is still underway. The Bank of England is clearly looking at digital currency storage solutions, but it is clear in the application that it wants a third party to create the wallet rather than producing anything internally with expert help. 

The Bank of England is working in tandem with the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) on ‘Project Rosalind’ - which is looking at creating proof of concept technologies that will enable the use of a CBDC by both institutions and private users. \

CBDCs are a notable aspect of the crypto space but many projects and users remain skeptical as the idea stands in contrast to decentralized currency systems such as bitcoin. 

Bitcoin miner Argo could go bust

The crypto Winter could shortly claim another scalp as pressure on firms in the space continues. Bitcoin miner Argo is close to bankruptcy as the firm struggled to meet its obligations as the price of bitcoin tumbled in recent months.

Miners have been hit by a variety of headwinds this year which have made operating conditions extremely difficult. Not only has the price of bitcoin fallen but the hashrate has remained at record highs for a long period. Coupled with high energy input costs this has put miners under pressure. Now it would appear to be at the point of breaking.

The company failed to attract strategic investment in October, which at the time did not bode well for its future. Argo is a publicly traded firm, but its share price was suspended on Friday pending an announcement. We’ll see what that announcement is, most likely today. 

Grow tulips using bitcoin

A Dutch tulip farm is making waves with the news that it uses energy and heat created by a bitcoin mining set up to grow tulips. The farm has turned to bitcoin in an intriguing innovation forced upon it by the European energy crisis.

The farm says it turned to bitcoin mining rigs to provide heat for the tulip greenhouses thanks to soaring energy costs caused by the conflict in Ukraine. The bitcoin servers are in turn powered by solar power, making it an energy-efficient process from start to finish. 

The irony of using bitcoin technology to grow tulips (the cause of one of the great historic financial bubbles of history) makes complete sense. Not only can the farm earn bitcoin through the process of mining, but it is in fact doing so in an environmentally friendly way. 
Bitcoin proponents are quick to defend the cryptoasset when it faces scrutiny over energy use. There are more novel solutions such as this popping up routinely now. Another such idea is attaching mining rigs to wind farms, for instance. This means when wind turbines are not needed but the wind is blowing, the mining rig can be turned on to earn the energy operator extra cash.

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