What is crypto mining in simple terms?

 Using powerful computers, crypto miners are solving complex math problems that are required to validate transactions on the blockchain, said Chris Kline, COO and co-founder of BitcoinIRA. Blockchain networks essentially serve as a “public ledger” for all transactions, promoting transparency.

Bitcoin is the most well-known example of a cryptocurrency that can be obtained in this way. Other popular tokens, like Ethereum, utilize a different system called “proof of stake” and don’t rely on mining.

“This competitive process rewards successful participants with newly generated tokens while maintaining the integrity of the decentralized system,” Kline told The Post. “Essentially, mining combines network security with financial incentives in a technological ecosystem designed to operate without central authority.”

Can crypto mining be profitable?

Mining can be highly profitable, but only when participants have carefully analyzed the costs. New entrants can expect to encounter “high fixed costs, technological complexity, and intense competition,” all of which are significant barriers to overcome, according to Peter Earle, a senior economist at the American Institute for Economic Research.

“The upfront capital needed for mining equipment, access to cheap electricity, and reliable internet infrastructure can be prohibitive,” Earle said.

Furthermore, the mining ecosystem is increasingly dominated by “industrial-scale” operations established in regions with lower electricity costs.

“Overall, mining has become less a game of experimentation and more a capital-intensive business, with economies of scale playing a central role — just as in traditional commodity extraction industries,” Earle added.

Are You Crypto Curious?

How to start crypto trading today

Best Wallet

Download a trusted exchange app — Start by choosing a licensed crypto exchange. We recommend starting with the Best Wallet app, available for both iOS and Android.

Create and verify your account — Sign up using your email, Google, or Apple ID. To complete registration, you’ll need to verify your identity with a government-issued ID and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for added security.

Fund your account — Deposit money into your account by linking a bank account or credit card or even using gift cards. Choose an option that best fits your lifestyle.

Buy your first cryptocurrency — Use the app’s marketplace or swap tool to purchase crypto by entering the ticker symbol — like BTC for Bitcoin or ETH for Ethereum — and follow the prompts to complete the transaction.

Choose how to store your crypto — Decide whether you’ll keep your crypto in the exchange, move it to a digital wallet (hot wallet), or store it offline (cold wallet) for extra protection.

LEARN MORE

What are the risks of crypto mining?

The biggest risk faced by amateur miners is the possibility of becoming financially overextended while setting up an operation, with no guarantee of immediate success.

“The challenge that comes with mining as a business is that you have the upfront cost of mining equipment plus the constant costs of electricity (for running the equipment 24/7), but you are only rewarded cryptocurrencies if you successfully outcompete others in puzzle solving,” said Benjamin Cole, a cryptocurrency expert and professor at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business.

“So it is possible to run your miner all year — running up massive electricity bills — but never get paid anything because you never successfully solve the puzzle faster than everyone else,” Cole added.

One way to mitigate this risk is to join a mining pool, which consists of a team of miners who share both the costs and potential rewards.

Can crypto mining damage your laptop?

Since crypto mining requires immensely powerful computers and high electricity usage, experts generally do not recommend using personal laptops or phones. Aside from potential overheating that can damage devices, amateur miners will be facing off against professional operations with top-of-the-line hardware.

“One way for individuals get involved today is by renting space in a data center — called hosting — which runs the miner for you with low-cost power and hands-on management,” said Tyler Stevens, cofounder of Exergy, a firm that designs heating systems powered by bitcoin mining.

“If done right, this can yield a steady stream of bitcoin rewards, often cheaper than buying directly on an exchange — depending on electricity costs and market conditions,” Stevens said.

What is the environmental impact of crypto mining?

Crypto mining is extremely energy-intensive — to the point that major operations can strain local power grids, cause carbon pollution and raise environmental concerns among critics.

Mining has surged in popularity in recent years and could represent more than 2% of the annual US electricity consumption, according to a 2024 report by the US Energy Information Administration. One 2021 study found that Bitcoin used more electricity than the entire country of Argentina.

How is crypto mining done?

The most advanced operations make use of specialized hardware called ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits). Other methods rely on high-end graphics processing units, commonly referred to as GPUs.

The hardware is essentially racing to solve the complex math problems required to verify transactions and unlock another Bitcoin. The faster the system, the more effective it is.

What is a crypto mining facility?

Major players have increasingly relied on custom-made computer buildouts that mine cryptocurrency around the clock. Experts compare them to data centers, with top-of-the-line hardware that’s specially made for mining and cooling systems in place to ensure they don’t overheat.

What are the differences between crypto mining and crypto trading?

Crypto mining and crypto trading are separate activities. Miners are attempting to complete new transactions on the blockchain so that they can be rewarded with newly issued crypto tokens. Traders are buying and selling existing tokens for profit.

What is the future of crypto mining?

Experts say that amateur crypto mining is expected to become increasingly difficult over time as professional and industrial-scale operations allocate more resources.

“Bitcoin’s difficulty has increased significantly, making solo mining nearly impossible without a massive investment,” said crypto expert and lawyer John Deaton. “Cryptocurrency mining has the potential to be rewarding, but it is not a get-rich-quick scheme. Long gone are the days when an individual could mine Bitcoin on a laptop.”

The total supply of Bitcoin will max out at 21 million, and no more will ever be created. At present, the final block is expected to be mined in 2140.

Trump Making Huge Mistake With Having Witkoff Negotiate a Deal with Iran!

 Negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran should in theory be the easiest of Witkoff’s jobs. Longtime Middle East observers say the Tehran theocracy is at its weakest-ever point following more than two years of proxy war with Israel and widespread internal opposition.

The State Department has insisted the US position is that Tehran completely dismantle its nuclear and uranium enrichment programs. But so far, Iran has stubbornly resisted — refusing US demands to end uranium enrichment and close its nuclear facilities.

Earlier this month, fresh off indirect talks held in Oman, Witkoff floated allowing Iran to keep its facilities if it promises to keep uranium enrichment levels lower than what’s needed for weapons in a plan that mirrors former President Obama’s nuclear deal that Trump canceled during his first term in office.

“You do not need to run, as they claim, a ‘civil nuclear program’ where you’re enriching past 3.67%,” Witkoff told Fox News host Sean Hannity April 14, “so this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program.”

Witkoff walked back his comments a day later, saying that “any final arrangement must set a framework for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Middle East — meaning that Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.”

“I think one of the worst cases if he does reach a deal is that something emerges like a rollback of the program that isn’t permanent,” FDD research fellow Andrea Stricker said on a recent press call. “On a technical level, Iran may say that it’s permanent, but in effect, it would retain all its enrichment infrastructure to wait out the Trump administration and bust out of the restrictions.”

“They really need to be put in a position of seeing the nuclear program as is a threat to their survival, rather than something that protects their survival,” Stricker said.

Former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton was more blunt, posting on X Sunday that “Witkoff’s discussions with Iran are a waste of oxygen.”

“The Iranians are trying to buy time and relief from economic sanctions so they can rebuild their military. We cannot just ‘tap along’ with the Iranians,” he said, referencing the president’s recent concern that Moscow is “tapping” him along with prolonged talks.

“Trump is making the same mistakes Obama did in 2015,” Bolton added.

Tehran has every reason to drag out the nuclear talks if Witkoff and Trump allow, according to FDD senior fellow Behnam Ben Taleblu, as they believe that “so long as Washington is talking, Jerusalem is not shooting — and through that prism everything else flows.”

“The foremost element of Tehran’s diplomatic strategy today is not to earn sanctions relief …” he added. “The foremost strategy is to use direct engagement with the United States as a literal human shield against an Israeli preemptive attack against Iran’s nuclear and/or military installations.”

Meanwhile, people familiar with the situation say Israel is waiting in the wings to conduct a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, quietly suggesting it could do so without US military support.

“It is a badge of honor to be the target of a John Bolton tantrum,” White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told The Post in a statement following publication. “He and his fellow warmongers quoted in this so called ‘news piece’ thrive off forever war – lining their pockets while young people die.

“Steve Witkoff has done incredible work securing the release of Americans detained abroad, like Marc Fogel, while leaving behind a massive business enterprise to serve his country. Like President Trump, he is focused on stopping the killing and advancing peace through strength.”

Agam Berger plays violin alongside Dudu Fisher

 

During the broadcast of the torchlighting ceremony on Wednesday evening, a particularly moving moment was recorded when Agam Berger, who was released from captivity, played an ancient violin and accompanied singer Dudu Fisher.

The torchlighting ceremony marked the opening of the 77th Independence Day celebrations for the State of Israel.

The traditional torchlighting ceremony at Mount Herzl was canceled due to harsh weather conditions. Instead, a pre-recorded dress rehearsal was broadcast, featuring performances by artists and torchlighters.

This year, the event was held under the theme "Bridges of Hope" and included musical performances, dance segments, light and sound displays, and innovative technology.

Shai Graucher Charedi activist fights tears during torch lighting ceremony

 

Shai Graucher, a Charedi activist known for organizing waves of charitable donations for IDF soldiers, was honored with a torch lighting for Independence Day.

"I light this torch for our nation's enormous heart,"he declared. "I have made it my life's work to gladden, as much as possible, the widows and orphans whose world has been destroyed."

"This is for the dozens of infants who have been born since the war began, and who will never meet their fathers, who were killed in action," he said, in a voice choked by tears.

"This is for those who survived captivity, for whom we must all do everything possible to help recuperate, and for the other hostages, all of whom we must recover."

He concluded, "This is for the donors, who never stop giving, and for the nation. I pray that we can unite in times other than a crisis."

Due to the fire in the Jerusalem mountains, the torch lighting ceremony was not broadcast live. The recording of the general rehearsal was broadcast instead.

Freed Kibbutznik Thanks Hakadosh Baruch Hu In Yom Ha’atzmaut Ceremony

The live Yom Ha’atzmaut ceremony at Har Herzl and small ceremonies across the country, scheduled for Wednesday evening, were canceled due to the fires still raging across Israel.

Instead, a recorded dress rehearsal was broadcast on Israeli TV channels. One of the torch-lighters was freed hostage Emily Damari, who was abducted from Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

Speaking briefly from stage before lighting the touch, Emily said that she is lighting the torch in honor of the 59 hostages still in captivity; the 64 residents of Kfar Aza who were murdered during the massacre; including two of her close friends, the Israeli security forces who risk their lives; those who fell in battle; the orphan and widows, and bereaved families who lost their loved ones.

She then raised her voice, and pointing upwards, she said: “And to Hakadosh Baruch Hu who gave me the kochos to survive captivity and to return on my feet to the country and nation I love so much!”

It should be noted that this is not the first time that Emily publicly thanked Hashem. Shortly after being released, she posted a message on social media, writing:

 “Love, love, love,” Damari wrote. 

“I thank Hashem, my family…to the best friends I have in this world. I’ve returned to my beloved life.”

Netanyahu Honors Fallen Hero by Donning His Tefillin on Memorial Day

 On Wednesday, in a deeply personal tribute marking Israel’s Memorial Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put on the tefillin of Maj. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz, an IDF officer and beloved educator who was killed during the war in Gaza.

“On this Memorial Day, I am honored to put on the tefillin of the Hero of Israel, Maj. (res.) Yossi Hershkovitz,” Netanyahu wrote. “Yossi, a wonderful educator, was imbued with true love of Israel. The moment he was called up, he said goodbye to his devoted wife Hadas and to his children—Ari, Hillel, Tal, Shira, and Neta—in order to protect the home of all of us.”

Netanyahu recalled how even from the battlefield in Gaza, Hershkovitz sent uplifting messages to his family, his students, and the nation. “Yossi combined a noble spirit with an uncompromising determination to defend our people and our country. In one hand he held a weapon, and in the other he held his violin.”

“We will turn the grief over Yossi and all our fallen heroes into a melody,” the prime minister added, “the melody of the power of the generation of victory.”

‘Best 20 Minutes Of My Life’, Wrote Dying Soldier On Oct. 7

  Lieutenant Yoav Maliaev, who served as the deputy communications officer of Battalion 77, fell in battle at the Yiftach outpost near Israel’s southern border on October 7. 

His father, Alex, shared in a Reshet Bet interview about his son’s determination to serve in a meaningful role — specifically in a place most would avoid. The grieving father also spoke about the note his son wrote for his loved ones just moments before he was killed — a note that was only discovered after his death. Even in the most difficult moments of the morning of October 7, Yoav insisted on encouraging and supporting everyone around him.

Alex shared the story of his late son’s military journey:
“Yoav enlisted in the IDF’s dedicated officers’ track in the Telecommunications and Cyber Defense Corps, despite having some health issues. He graduated the course with distinction, and although he could have chosen to serve anywhere — he asked to be placed in Battalion 77 of the Armored Corps. When asked why he chose a place no one else wanted, he said, ‘Because even in the places no one wants to be — good people are needed too.'”

Watch how "Torah Learners" Tear off Israeli Flags from a Car During a Siren

 

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Young Frum Widow Tells the story of How Her Husband Left on Oct 7 to help Save his people and Never Came Back

 

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At Har Herzl a group of young people stood and sang together: “Shaarei Shamayim Psach

 

With open hearts, with broken voices, out of a sense of responsibility and remembrance, they asked for mercy.

It wasn’t a performance, not a planned ceremony. It was a true prayer, straight from the heart – for an entire people grappling with loss, with longing, with a hope that has not yet been extinguished.

THE ZIONIST שמד

 

from EMAILIM BATORAH

When the Zionist movement was founded, there was a real danger
of the Frum community joining this secular organization.

The Gedolim of the time vehemently opposed Zionism and spoke out
against the movement.
They explained how dangerous this movement is for Yiddishkeit. They argued & warned that the sole goal of the Zionists was to uproot the Torah and destroy Yiddishkeit. They considered all the Zionists as 'כופרים בהקב"ה ועובדי ע"ז וכו
who are trying to שמד כלל ישראל

The Gedolim were successful in preventing most Frum Yidden from joining the secular Zionist movement. However, like in all generations, there were Yidden who went off the Derech, and many of them joined the Zionists.

The Gedolim of the past and present, with סיעתא דשמיא, accomplished that the Zionists didn't manage to Shmad any Frum Yidden for the past seventy years. Since the Parsha of the ילדי תימן in the years 1948-1954, thanks to the Gedolim, there was no Shmad taking place by the Zionists.

Yes, indeed, many Yidden in E.Y. did go off the Derech, but hey did so not because of Zionism. Had they lived in Monroe or New Square, etc., they most likely would have done the same and gone OTD.

Some will claim that the Zionists were the cause of so many of our Sephardi brethren adopting a secular lifestyle. Evidence has proven this to be wrong. The number of Sephardim who immigrated to Chutz Laaretz and forsaken their Yiddishkeit is more than tenfold that of the Israeli Sephardim.

Sephardic Torah Chinuch Mosdos in Eretz Yisroel versus Sephardic Mosdos in Chutz Laaretz is probably one hundred to one.

If it is not the Tziyoinim who are Shmading us, whom should we blame for the Shmad?

We should blame the entire non-religious community. Even those non-Frum מחללי שבת etc. who aren't עובר the שלש שבועות. The שנאת עמי הארץ towards the Frum community is not exclusive to the Zionists.

This Schmad is happening all over the Jewish world, in Williamsburg, Monsey, Lakewood, London, Bnei Brak Yerushalayim, and countless other cities where Yidden live.

The Shmad in Chutz Laaretz is much greater than that of the Tziyoinim in E.Y.
In Chu"l we have hundreds of thousands who intermarried with Goyim.

Part #2 - Stopping the Shmad

Sixty years ago, most of כלל ישראל adopted a new method of fighting the non-Frum,
 instead of calling them "עמלקים-ערב רב-נאצים", etc. We called them תינוק שנשבה - אחינו בני ישראל
 Instead of hurling rocks & stones at them, we showered them with brotherly love.

Instead of shouting angrily at them, "SHABBOS," we invited them into our homes and sang with them "SHABBOS HAYOM."
 Instead of chanting נמות ולא נתגייס, we chant - נקדש את שמך בעולם (הזה)
עם ישראל חי

This new method of warfare against secularism proved to be so effective that over a hundred thousand Yidden returned to become חוזרים בתשובה.
In the entire history of כלל ישראל, never has there been such a large amount of בעלי תשובה as in the past generation.

Sadly, in the past few years, the number of new בעלי תשובה has drastically dwindled. Our inaction, of not being מוחה, protesting, and putting a stop to the rioting לשם שמים, discourages Yidden from being חוזרים בתשובה.

People stuck in traffic for hours due to illegal demonstrations don't want to join a community that disregards others trying to get to work, get to appointments, or return home after a long day.

The millions who watch the nightly newscast of our boys rioting like Mr. Schwartz's boys in the African jungle will not be convinced to change their lifestyle and become שומרי תורה ומצוות.

TO STOP THE SHMAD. The Roshei Yeshivah, Rebbes, leaders, Parents, etc. must clearly & loudly declare,
לא זו הדרך - דרכיה דרכי נועם

Forest Fire Reaches Homes in Ramat Beit Shemesh "Bet"

 The wildfire in Ramat Beit Shemesh has now reached the residential area. Firefighting teams are working to contain the blaze.

Massive Fires in Beit Shemesh, Motorists Abandoning Their Cars!

 

🚨 *EMERGENCY ANNOUNCEMENT:*

If anyone from beit Shemesh  is currently in Jerusalem, DO NOT travel home on Highway 1.

It is closed due to massive fires that have overtaken part of the highway. Motorists are stranded and abandoning their vehicles evacuating the area on foot or any way they can.

Highway 375 from south Jerusalem via Beitar is still open.

*Make sure to share this as much as possible.*

Harav Yitzchok Yosef Permits Elevators on Shabbos "Le'chatcilah"

DIN: We are talking, of course, about specially modified elevators. In Israel, Shabbos Elevators have been modified with the latest scientific mechanism so that they are in line with halacha! 

But, .......and this is a big "butt", there are Charedie Poiskim who prohibit it nevertheless! 

A few years ago I bought a dira in an apartment building with a Shabbos Elevator! I live on the 3rd floor and B"H I can climb the stairs. The Vaad Habyis at the time shut off the elevator on Shabbos since no one, I guessed, needed to use it! 

Then my wife invited a relative for the Shabbos Night meal, and this relative couldn't climb stairs for health reasons, so I asked the Vaad Guy if he could activate the elevator for Shabbos so I could accommodate this relative!

He answered politely that he asked "Daas Teirah" and that the Rav paskened that the elevator is prohibited on Shabbos, regardless of the latest scientific modifications! 

So, again, I asked politely if he can tell me which floor that Rav lives in his building! He asked of what difference that makes, since the Rav paskened like that! I told him, "I'm just curious!" 

He answered, turning red like a boiled beet, that the Rav lives on the Ground Floor!

 I told him sternly and firmly that unless he gets a Rav that lives on the 3rd floor or higher, he better have that elevator activated! 

To make a long story short, he did in fact activate the elevator for that Shabbas!

Fast forward three years I notice that the elevator has been activated as a Shabbas Elevator every single Shabbos! So, again, I asked politely, completely innocent, "What happened? Did that Rav change his psak?" He didn't answer me, but it turns out that his father-in-law lives on the 2nd floor and he has "loi aleinu" Parkinson's disease and can't climb stairs! 

So I see that Chareidim listen to "Daas Teirah" as long as it doesn't affect them personally, once it hits home.... The Rav and his psak go out the window!

מי כעמך ישראל

 

Chareide IDF Soldier Stands with His Children at the Side During Siren

 Bnei Brak

A Charedi IDF reservist stands tall during the memorial siren, his children by his side — a quiet salute to Israel’s fallen and a heartfelt prayer for the hostages’ return.

Zero mercy. President Trump just called out ABC to their faces for covering up for Biden

 

Trump puts the interviewer  on ABC in his place after he tried denying  that Kilmer Abrego Garcia is part of the MS 13 gang and that the tattoos  on his hands were "photoshopped."

President Trump goes off on ABC News’ Terry Moran after he asks him about his confidence level in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Trump: He’s a very good defense secretary.

Moran: Do you have a 100% confidence in him?

Trump: Do I have a 100% confidence in anything? It's a stupid question… Only a liar would say I have a 100% confidence.

I don't have a 100% confidence that we're gonna finish this interview.

Beit Shemesh: A City of Heroes

Hundreds of people attended memorial ceremonies in Beit Shemesh yesterday evening.

Today the city remembers the 127 residents who gave their lives in Israel's battles and terror attacks.

Don't Look For A Cat when You Are On A Date!

 

Abbas: According to Quran, Jewish Temple stood in Yemen

 

 Great News! Now we can all go up to the Har Habayit! 

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas claimed last week that in the Quran, the Jewish Temple is described as being in Yemen.

“In the Noble Quran—and I believe that also in other divine books—it says that the [First and Second] Temples were in Yemen,” said Abbas on April 23 in a televised speech during the 32nd PLO Central Council meeting in Ramallah.

He made the remarks in the context of his claim that Israeli authorities were targeting Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is built on the Temple Mount, where the Jewish Temple used to stand.

“The Jews say, ‘This is ours, that was ours….’ No. That’s not what the Quran says,” said Abbas, according to a translation of his Arabic-language speech by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI.)

Scholars, including Nadav Shragai in his 2020 book “Al-Aqsa Terror: From Libel to Blood,” have identified false claims about the Quran’s localization of the Jewish Temple as a trend in a recent attempt at historical revision by Palestinian nationalists to deny Jewish ties to the place and strengthen Muslim or Arab ones.

“The attempts by Palestinian leaders like Yasser Arafat or Saeb Erekat to cast doubt on the Temple’s existence on the Mount or to distance it from that location by claiming that there was indeed a Temple, but in Nablus or Yemen, stem from one sole motive,” wrote Shragai: “The desire to expunge from the Temple Mount a competing Jewish historical narrative and a competing historical and religious awareness, since these could becloud their own historical and religious narrative on the Mount.”

Abbas’s predecessor, Yasser Arafat, also repeated this theory. On Sept. 25, 2003, Arafat told Arab leaders from northern Israel that no Jewish Temple had existed in the Land of Israel, but rather in Yemen. Arafat told his listeners that he had visited Yemen and seen with his own eyes the site upon which Solomon’s Temple once stood.

The previous year, another top PLO figure, Haj Zaki al-Ghul, stated that King Solomon had ruled over the Arabian Peninsula, and that it was there, not in Jerusalem, that he built his Temple.

Professor Yitzhak Reiter of the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, in a 2011 essay in The American Interest, traces the Yemen canard to Kamal Salibi, professor emeritus at the American University of Beirut and subsequently director of the Royal Institute for Interfaith Studies in Amman. In a 1985 book, Salibi claimed that biblical Jerusalem was located in the Arabian Nimas highlands, halfway from Mecca to Yemen.

The Quran does not name Jerusalem, but for centuries, Muslim scholars have acknowledged that the Jewish Temple stood there, including in the writings of Abu Jafar Muhammad bin Jarir al-Tabari, Muhammad al-Idrisi, who visited Jerusalem in the 12th century, theologian Taki ad-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyyah (1263-1328) and 14th-century historian Abd al-Rahman ibn Khaldun, according to Shragai.

The current Muslim denial of this history, particularly since 1967, is a relatively recent political fabrication aimed at delegitimizing Jewish claims and justifying incitement and violence under the false claim that “Al-Aqsa is in danger,” he wrote.

In the same speech, Abbas also used sharp-worded language against Hamas, urging it to free the Israeli hostages it is holding.

“[Hamas says:] ‘We won’t release the American hostage.’ You sons of dogs, release the [hostages] and spare us this! Strip the [Israelis] of their excuses,” he exclaimed.

That part of his speech grabbed headlines worldwide, with some commentators presenting the statement as evidence that Abbas is a pragmatist working to de-escalate the war in Gaza. Others interpreted Abbas’s criticism of Hamas as posturing for Western audiences, meant to serve the Palestinian Authority’s agenda of taking over Gaza from its arch-rival Hamas under Israeli and Western auspices.