Although BlackRock’s IBIT is the traditional leader in the crypto ETF market, the company’s Ethereum product had higher inflows this week. In fact, ETHA had the second-highest inflows of all US ETFs, an impressive record.
After weeks of aggressive corporate Bitcoin investment, Ethereum is growing as a popular choice. This trend may buoy the token’s market presence as an altcoin season looks possible.
ETH, therefore, is a popular but less crowded alternative choice, as Wall Street investment isn’t fully moving the market.
Plus, Ethereum maximalism in its own right is on the rise. This topic struck particularly close to home for BlackRock today, when its Head of Digital Assets left the firm to join an ETH treasury company.
This executive helped spearhead BlackRock’s crypto ETF strategies, but he felt that SharpLink could better allow him to focus on Ethereum.
With institutional investments into Ethereum picking up the pace, Bitcoin’s dominance has dipped more than 5% in July.
US Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman have introduced the Clean Cloud Act of 2025. The bill aims to reduce carbon emissions from energy-intensive crypto-mining operations and artificial intelligence data centers.
This comes at a time when Bitcoin miners are increasingly moving towards renewable energy sources to power their operations.
Clean Cloud Act Links Rising Energy Demand to Bitcoin Mining
According to the bill, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would have the authority to set annual carbon performance standards for facilities with over 100 kilowatts of installed IT power.
These standards would tighten each year, with emissions limits declining by 11% annually.
Companies that exceed the cap will pay a starting fee of $20 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. This fee will rise yearly, adjusting for inflation and an additional $10 per ton. The bill also enforces strict accounting methods to include indirect emissions from the grid.
The lawmakers argue that crypto miners and AI centers are driving up power demand at an unsustainable pace. According to them, the current clean energy sources cannot keep up with the rapid growth of the demand for Bitcoin mining.
They noted that data centers alone use 4% of all electricity in the US and could hit 12% by 2028. They also pointed out that utilities have even restarted old coal plants to meet rising demand, worsening the country’s carbon footprint.
Considering this, Senator Whitehouse noted that this pressure is driving up electricity costs for consumers. He said the bill would push tech firms toward clean energy investments and help ensure the US power grid can reach net-zero emissions within the next decade.
“The good news is that we don’t have to choose between leading the world on AI and leading the world on climate safety: big technology and AI companies have all the money in the world to pay for developing new sources of clean energy, rather than overloading local grids and firing up fossil fuel pollution. The Clean Cloud Act will drive utilities and the burgeoning crypto and AI industries to invest in new sources of clean energy,” the lawmaker stated.
To protect low-income households, 25% of the revenue generated from emissions penalties will offset energy costs. The rest will fund grants supporting long-duration storage and clean power generation projects.
Following this rapid adoption rate, the report forecast that renewables could support over 70% of mining activities by 2030, driven by cost efficiency, evolving policies, and a broader shift toward sustainable practices
As PI Day approaches, many Pi Network users or Pioneers could lose their accumulated Pi coins.
The risk comes following widespread complaints about the inability to complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process.
Growing Frustration Among Pi Network Users
In a late February announcement, the Pi Network team stated that users who fail to complete KYC and migrate their balance to Mainnet within the extended grace period—ending at 8:00 AM UTC on March 14, 2025—”risk losing most of their mobile balance.”
“…the end of the Grace Period is inevitable to make sure the network can move on in its new phase without large sums of unverified and unclaimed mobile balances. Thus, this is the last chance for any Pioneer to complete the required steps to avoid forfeiting their past mobile balances,” read the announcement.
This announcement has sparked widespread frustration among Pioneers. Based on discontent shared on X (Twitter), many claim they have attempted but failed to complete KYC. Crypto enthusiast Rod Thompson called the situation the biggest con job of crypto, with up to 10,000 PI Coins on the line for him.
“The Pi Network has been earning ad revenue for every one of my daily mining sessions, but I’m going to lose over 10,000 pi coins because people I haven’t spoken to in two years haven’t done KYC. At least one of them passed away over a year ago. That’s over $10,000 due to me for my efforts,” Thompson lamented.
Thompson is not the only Pioneer questioning the fairness of the Pi Network system. Another user, S.O.H., described the situation as “mass social engineering on blockchain.” Meanwhile, others, such as Ahmady Ala, reported that despite mining Pi for six years, they have yet to be allowed to complete KYC.
Pioneer’s screenshot on KYC issues with Pi Network. Source: Ahmady Ala on X
In the same tone, some users have had their KYC documents pending for over two years without resolution.
“My KYC verification has been pending for 2.5 years. Even if it won’t be approved, shouldn’t there be an option to reapply?” user H. Ibrahim posed in frustration.
Unfair Reward Distribution, Centralization, and Migration Delays
In addition to KYC-related frustrations, many users have reported balance inconsistencies. They claim their unverified balance keeps increasing while their transferable balance is significantly reduced.
This makes the migration process confusing, and the lack of transparency leads some to label Pi a “scam network.” Another major concern is the alleged unfair distribution of rewards.
“I mined consistently for 4 years, stayed loyal to Pi Network, brought in 39 people, and even completed KYC for 17 of them—yet I got nothing. Meanwhile, others with no referrals and irregular mining have more Pi than me. How is that fair?” another user, Mango Fan Token, stated.
Meanwhile, despite claiming a user base of 60 million, on-chain data indicates only about 11 million active users. This led to concerns over Pi Network’s actual adoption rate.
Additionally, questions about centralization have emerged. Some critics argue that the project’s control mechanisms limit the potential for a truly decentralized network. Another issue plaguing the network is the failure of many users to migrate their Pi coins to Mainnet.
BeInCrypto reported recently that Pioneers have struggled with transferring their balances, even after fulfilling all required steps. Some users, frustrated by prolonged lockup periods, have resorted to selling their PI Coin accounts on unofficial markets, raising further concerns about the platform’s credibility and long-term viability.
While criticism of the network continues to mount, Pi Coin has recently seen double-digit gains as investors gear up for Pi Day. Some analysts speculate that the surge is driven by optimism surrounding potential developments on March 14.
Pi Network (PI) Price Performance. Source: CoinGecko
CoinGecko data shows that PI Coin’s price was $1.71 as of this writing, up nearly 15% in the last 24 hours. However, whether the price momentum can be sustained in the face of ongoing technical issues and community dissatisfaction remains uncertain.
