Eating disorders

Exclusive: doctors surveyed say young people forced to endure long waits as NHS services overwhelmed

Wed 22 Mar 2023 14.31 EDT

Young people with eating disorders are coming to harm and ending up in A&E because they are being denied care and forced to endure long waits for treatment, GPs have revealed.

NHS eating disorders services are so overwhelmed by a post-Covid surge in problems such as anorexia that they are telling under-19s to rely on charities, their parents or self-help instead.

They are so threadbare in some places that young people who are struggling to function normally because of their eating disorder have to wait more than a year to start treatment.

The truly shocking findings about the help available to young people with often very fragile mental health emerged in a survey of 1,004 family doctors across the UK by the youth mental health charity stem4.

The shortage of beds for children and young people with eating disorders is so serious that some are being sent hundreds of miles from home or ending up on adult psychiatric wards, GPs say.

The provision is awful and I worry my young patients may die, one GP in the south-east of England told stem4. Another described the specialist NHS services available in their area as virtually nonexistent and not fit for purpose.

Urgent help for eating disorders is so patchy that 60% of the family doctors surveyed fear that sufferers will come to harm before they get it, the charity found. Almost one in three (32%) GPs have seen a young patients condition worsen so dramatically that they have had to seek help at A&E.

A pronounced postcode lottery means that many GPs believe that access to treatment has become impossible (23%) or difficult (53%) for under-19s with early, less severe physical symptoms.

Youth mental health experts warned that a young person with an eating disorder who had to wait for help could see their mental and physical health decline and face a heightened risk of suicide. Some who are already dangerously underweight become even more so as they wait.

This GP survey tells us that young people with eating disorders, who will be most responsive to treatment at the start of their illness, cant access treatment, said Dr Nihara Krause, the consultant clinical psychologist and founder of stem4.

Young people with complex mental illness such as eating disorders will experience deterioration the longer they are made to wait for treatment, and this is why we are seeing record numbers of young people presenting at A&E, she added.

People who have eating disorders are at high risk of mortality both due to physical complications and risk of suicide. All young people with poor mental health need treatment early or else their risk increases. Young people with an eating disorder often have another mental health problem, too.

NHS bosses needed to accelerate existing plans to expand the treatment available for sufferers, because patients who went untreated took longer to recover, Krause added.

The GP survey found that the thresholds for under-19s getting help for eating disorders are so high that patients in desperate need are routinely refused NHS care.

Last month the NHS ombudsman for England warned that people with eating disorders were at risk of dying because they were being repeatedly failed by a health service that has done too little to tackle the growing problem.

Olly Parker, head of external affairs at the charity YoungMinds, said that young people with eating disorders needed to get medical help quickly, but the majority face such severe delays that can put them at risk of getting worse and reaching crisis before they get any help.

He added: Children and young people simply should not be put in this situation. Often GPs and staff are doing what they can to support young people, but they are working with a broken system that cannot keep up with demand.

Earlier this month the Royal College of Psychiatrists said that eating disorder services in England had been flooded with under-18s being referred by GPs since Covid struck in 2020. The number of such patients was 51% higher then pre-pandemic, it found.

NHS England said the number of young people with eating disorders it was treating was rising.

While the pandemic has taken a huge toll on many peoples mental health, improving care for people with an eating disorder is vital, with the NHS treating 55% more young people for eating disorders compared to pre-pandemic, as well as rolling out a rapid early intervention eating disorder service for people aged 16-25, a spokesperson said.

We acknowledge that more support is still needed, which is why we are also rolling out mental health support teams as fast as we can, ahead of plan, and have doubled the number of children and young people we have seen, as well as establishing 24/7 crisis lines.

Quotes from stem4s survey

Frighteningly short of resources. Exasperating as a clinician trying to keep these patients safe.

Too many referrals are bounced or palmed off to charity and self-help.

Eating disorders [services are massively oversubscribed and [there are] huge waits. I dont doubt the doctors and teams are doing their best but essentially they need huge numbers more.

A local charity is good. But there is no NHS provision. Child and adolescent mental health services (Camhs) reject every referral we do.

The threshold for seeing patients is too high, so illness is entrenched by the time any meaningful support is given. The treatment received is too little and too late/

Camhs is woefully under-resourced to manage eating disorders and cannot cope with the workload.

The services are nonexistent in my area, with patients having to travel hundreds of miles. It is completely unacceptable.

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I worry my young patients will die: UKs eating disorder services not fit, say GPs - The Guardian

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Have you ever doubted your worth, or felt the heavy weight of comparison creep in and destroy your confidence?

In my fourth spiritual guidebook You Are Enough: Activate Your Angels & Live a Soul-FULL Life I share exercises, guided meditations, and countless examples of ways you can overcome your limiting beliefs, your tendency to self-sabotage, and those ever-creeping doubts that have you questioning your innate value.

Those doubts are planted (and often fertilized) by a society that stresses success and hustle over true fulfillment. In this book, I help you let go of those doubts and work towards a Soul-FULL life. Living Soul-FULLy is about celebrating and welcoming in every form of abundance those things that really matter: peace, connection, vibrant health, contribution, and, yes, financial flow.

Discover your blocks when it comes to feeling open to all of the goodness available to you now, and heal them without overthinking or over-analyzing. Bring more love to your relationships, and shift your perspective of the challenging people, situations, and struggles you have experienced.

Feel seen, heard, and understood as you read my own personal examples and the examples of many clients I have helped on my journey as a healer, coach, author, and motivational speaker over the last decade.

So many of my clients and the sensitive souls I meet feel that their sensitivity and intuitiveness is a weakness. But, in this book, I will show you how to embrace all of your emotions, experiences, and relationships to help you grow into the person you are meant to be. Use your intuition and empathy to help you welcome in a richer, deeper experience of life.

Feel empowered and much more confident as you embrace your divine worth and connect with your angels, ancestors, and your own inner knowing. Feel the love and light that surrounds you, encouraging you to let go of the past and all the pressures you feel. Free yourself of distractions, honour your flaws, and embrace the simple joys that surround you.

You are loved. You are supported. You are enough.

This book will help you believe in yourself again.

(Lisa Driver was born and raised in Regina and now lives in Medicine Hat. You are Enough and Lisas other three spiritual guidebooks are available online at http://www.lisadriver.com or http://www.driverworks.ca, and in various metaphysical and book shops.)

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Read My Book: Lisa Driver's newest publication shows that 'You Are ... - Regina Leader Post

Morganton, NC, March 23, 2023 --(PR.com)--Half the population is over 40. Many of those are in distress and drowning in misinformation. Randolph Harrison, MEd, and wife/co-creator Erica Schwarting offer a lifeline, A Guide for Aging Heroes. This groundbreaking work received Literary Titans Gold Book Award for 2023. A Guide for Aging Heroes debunks stereotypes about aging and redefines the second half of life as a renaissance. More than a how-to book, Aging Heroes is a way of being, a lifestyle marked by adventure, personal evolution, service, and wonder. It takes readers on a voyage of self-exploration, embracing the inherent interconnections between us all.

According to the American Psychological Association, 95% of self-help books are published without supporting evidence! Every approach in A Guide for Aging Heroes is referenced and supported by recent scientific research.

Daily reads include motivational anecdotes, simple instructions, and suggested activities to help readers engage in personal change. A Guide for Aging Heroes offers easy techniques for transforming lifes emotional, intellectual, social, physical, and spiritual domains. This book shines a light on a new way of experiencing the second half of life.

"For those of us at whom this book is squarely aimed, the well-structured segments require a healthy dose of self-reflection to properly navigate, but the rewards are well worth the effort. The book is disarmingly honest about our faults but courageously hopeful about our power to overcome them. -David Buzan, author of In the Lair of Legends.

Randolph Harrison is a college psychology instructor and former counseling therapist. He is a recipient of the prestigious Roston Endowed Teaching Chair and the WPCC Excellence in Teaching Award. Randolph has lectured on various psychology and education topics in cities across the US. He is energized by exploring ideas with others. Harrison is a writer, musician, motorcyclist, sailor, fitness geek, and avid outdoor adventurer.

Erica Schwarting sees life through the lens of an artist. She spent her early years as a fashion model. Erica has a keen eye for detail and an innate talent as a designer. Schwarting currently manages hospital volunteer programs and oversees spiritual-care services. Engaging in charity work and being a change agent for diversity and inclusion are values she holds dear. She has competed in hundreds of races, including a Ragnar Relay in Hawaii, the Mt. Kilimanjaro Half-Marathon, and the Chicago Major Marathon.

To pre-order the book, go to https://www.agingheroes.com

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Over 40 Crowd in Crisis and Disillusioned with the Status Quo: New ... - PR.com

For the first time in three years, the Women of Color at Penn (WOCAP) hosted its annual award ceremony in person. WOCAP, which is housed in the African-American Resource Center (AARC), used the March 17 event to celebrate the achievements of women of color at Penn and in the broader community, highlighting this years theme of self-care and healing.

As the WOCAP chair, Mattie Maria SimBarcelos, a staff member at the Wharton School, gave opening remarks. The past few years have been so heavy with grief and isolation that I wanted to create safe spaces for restoration, reflection, and healing, SimBarcelos wrote in her program remarks.

SimBarcelos welcomed Joann Mitchell, senior vice president for institutional affairs and chief diversity officer, who read remarks from President Liz Magill. Magill thanked SimBarcelos along with the WOCAP committee, for your determination, your efforts, and your passion. The award ceremony and luncheon, which brings together more than 300 allies, reminds us that we are all committed to making progress, not just here at Penn but throughout our society, she said.

Mya Gordon, a junior majoring in urban studies from Lake Oswego, Oregon, won the undergraduate student award. Gordon is a Silverman Fellow at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships and has worked in the Penn Program for Public Service. Gordon spoke about her commitment to improving relationships between Penn and West Philadelphia and thanked her grandfather, who was in the audience. The thing he always told me growing up is the mind is a terrible thing to waste, she said. So, Im really trying to use mine to support my community and the people I care about.

Kyabeth Torres-Rodriguez, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Cancer Biology Graduate Program in the Perelman School of Medicine, won the graduate student award. Torres-Rodriguez is studying tumor immunosuppression and has an interest in diversifying science. She recently served as the lead for the Program Development Committee for the Diversity Equity Engagement at Penn in STEM, an initiative designed to diversify Perelman, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and School of Arts & Sciences.

Shelah Harper, founder and CEO of the Asia Adams Save OUR Children Foundation Inc. won the Community Award. After her daughters death, Harper has dedicated her work to protecting young women and girls from intimate partner violence. Our children are priceless, said Harper, who urged the audience to do something, anything to connect with children.

The Faculty/Staff Award went to Sharon Irving, associate professor of pediatric nursing in the School of Nursing. Irving also serves as a senior fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute and as a steering committee member of the Penn Center for Nutritional Science and Medicine. When there is a task or a need or a challenge, she does not shirk the responsibility, said Colleen Winn, who introduced the honoree.

Irving is a first-generation college student from Harlem who became one of the first Black pediatric critical care nurse practitioners in the U.S.

I chose nursing because nursing allowed me to be me, Irving said. It also allowed me to reach back and help.

AARC director Valerie Dorsey Allen was this years Joann Mitchell Outstanding Legacy Honoree. Over her many years of leadership, Dorsey Allen has consistently served on the WOCAP committee. My WOCAP family has been a cocoon when I needed to be protected and a cheerleading squad when I have had achievements, Dorsey Allen said.

Diane Waff, professor of practice at the Graduate School of Education, won this years Helen O. Dickens Lifetime Achievement Award. Waff is the director of the Philadelphia Writing Project and has worked for the organization for 30 years, improving teaching and learning, building community, and addressing issues of race, power, and gender in schools. Young peoples writing and creativity continues to inspire me, she said.

The voices of color presentation included reflections from Sharon Smith, associate vice provost for university life; Nesha Subramaniam, a South Asia Studies major in the College of Arts and Sciences; Krista L. Cortes of La Casa Latina; and Zhanar Beketova of the Graduate School of Education. Each woman offered testimony from her own personal experiences.

Smith shared the story of her familys migration from the Caribbean to the U.S., where Smith was one of the few Black students in her suburban high school, which filled her with anxiety. Im sure to this day, she says, everyone at that high school thinks Im shy.

Subramaniam is Sri Lankan American. Losing several family members during the Sri Lankan Civil War gave her a heightened awareness to human rights violations and global health, she said. To be part of the American diaspora is having your life shaped and impacted by diversity, struggle, but also by constant rebuilding and rebirth. Individual cultural differences will always be present but so will human connection.

Cortes spoke of her work to understand her Afro-Latinx identity, which she then uses to make others feel seen and accepted, she said. For Black women, leading in higher education looks a lot like mothering, Cortes said.

Beketova, who is originally from Khazakstan, spoke of colorism in her home country.

Prevalent in countries with a history of colonialism and slavery, colorism causes people within the same ethnic group to treat one another differently based on skin tone, she said.

As a child, Beketova internalized negative messages. Now, she wants every little girl growing up to know that shes beautiful because she is human.

Mariel Diana Featherstone, a staff member in the Neuroscience Graduate Group, will serve as the 2024 chair. The theme, she said, will be facing our fears and growing and adapting to change.

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Honoring women of color | Penn Today - Penn Today

In episode 11 of Hashing It Out, Cointelegraphs Elisha Owusu Akyaw speaks to Steven McClurg, the chief investment officer of Valkyrie Investments, about the state of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the way forward.

Regulators in the United States have mounted stiff opposition against listing Bitcoin spot ETFs even though Canadian and European regulators have given the green light. McClurg points out that even for the Canadian and European markets, these approvals also took a long time. According to McClurg, the two biggest issues U.S. regulators have with Bitcoin spot ETFs are custody and market manipulation.

The chief investment officer believes that the custody issue would have largely been dealt with if not for the FTX fiasco, which caused regulators to take a step back to scrutinize whether custodians are safe before approving more Bitcoin investment products. On the second issue of market manipulation, McClurg believes that similar products in Canada have made a case for why such concerns are invalid.

Locally, companies like Valkyrie Investments are actively working with regulators to answer major questions surrounding the safety of Bitcoin Spot ETFs. McClurg says Valkyrie has been educating regulators on how custody works and sharing notes on due diligence done by the company on various custodians, which picked up red flags in some of the companies that went bust last year.

According to McClurg, despite the lack of United States-based Bitcoin spot ETFs, people in the country can have exposure to spot ETFs from Canada through brokerages.

Related: Bitcoins 2023 price action driven by the desire to regain losses, according to professional trader

He also points out that some lawmakers, especially in the House of Representatives, have been receptive to making laws that make it easier to launch Bitcoin spot ETFs. Nevertheless, McClurg maintains a pessimistic outlook on how soon consumers can access spot ETFs from the United States.

Other topics discussed include:

Listen to the full discussion about Bitcoin ETFs on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcastsor TuneIn. You can also check out Cointelegraphs complete catalog of informative podcasts on the Cointelegraph Podcasts page.

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FTX fiasco set back the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs: Valkyrie investment chief - Cointelegraph

Three banks have failed in less than a week. U.S. government officials have stepped up to backstop losses, in a bid to prevent further panic. There are genuine concerns about whether that was the right move effectively bailing out two poorly run institutions facing highly irregular problems and letting the third collapse as well as the risk that more banks will fail.

So should you take your money out of your bank and keep it safe under the mattress or in bitcoin? The answer is, if youre anything like me, whatever money you have in a checking account is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) up to $250,000. So, no, its improbable that JPMorgan Chase will rug you.

This article is excerpted from The Node, CoinDesk's daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news. You can subscribe to get the full newsletter here.

Still, many are moving their money into crypto, like Tatiana Koffman, who described the move Monday in CoinDesk as an act of protest. Putting aside stablecoins, crypto is volatile, making these assets less than ideal currencies if you want to preserve your wealth. But they offer root ownership meaning no one can make a run for your deposits.

Bitcoin, as many have already said, was born out of an earlier banking crisis. The blockchains very first block contained a message about bailouts. It was designed to disintermediate third parties from internet money by making people responsible for their own keys, in contrast to the highly intertwined private banking sector and public sector.

President Joe Biden has said U.S. taxpayers will not foot the bill for the bailout, and that unlike in 2008 the architects of this financial crash will not benefit. There are enough responsible actors here to play the blame game, but if youre like Tatiana the issue is The System itself.

SVB essentially took a bet that interest rates would stay near zero forever. Over the past couple of years, it took in deposits from a tech industry that was booming, in part, due to historically low rates that made venture capital financing worth the risk for many investors. In an effort to juice as much yield as possible from those deposits, SVB put a majority of its money into long-term, fixed-rate interest investments.

The Federal Reserve, as my colleague David Z. Morris wrote, essentially created the foundation for a tech hype cycle through financial engineering to stimulate the economy, and then threw the frying pan into ice water when things got too hot. The recent interest rate rises were not necessarily unpredictable, but the Feds inconsistent messaging saying rate hikes were unthinkable until they werent did not help the situation.

Venture capitalists like Peter Thiel helped accelerate SVBs outsized growth, and its quickened collapse. Thiel is reportedly a believer in Girardian mimicry, which explains why groups of humans make predictable if irrational decisions and our relentless pursuit of scapegoats. Tech leaders have said SVB grew out of a feedback loop that made it the place for startups to bank.

Also, a similar social dynamic, fueled by chat groups and social media, kicked in on the way down. Some even put sometimes-CoinDesk author Byrne Hobart at the center of things, because he wrote a supposedly well-read blog last month saying SVB was effectively insolvent. And so depositors like Roku, which left some $487 million uninsured at SVB, are not blameless.

Politicians, who like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are using the situation to justify their pet causes, once promised us no more bailouts, yet wrote the rules that allowed SVB to use a little accounting magic and hide billions in unrealized losses. Some, like former Rep. Barney Frank said Signature Bank, where he is now a board member, was attacked for political reasons because it dealt with crypto.

When Frank was in Congress he co-sponsored the legislation ultimately enacted as the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, stymied bank failures. Signature had reportedly experienced the worst of its bank run and could have survived without government intervention, Frank said. If moral hazard is the argument that people will engage in riskier behavior if protected from the consequences of their actions, then we need a new term for Franks claims.

There were sound arguments for stepping in and preventing a cataclysmic blow to the valuable U.S. tech industry. Taxpayer money isnt being used (at least not directly), deposits for growing businesses are safe, shareholders and bondholders arent being bailed out and even the New York Times is calling for clawbacks of SVB executives compensation and stock sales.

And, yes, there are solid arguments in favor of having let Silicon Valley Bank and Signature run their course. Expected losses were almost certainly exaggerated. A sound startup could have raised equity and banked elsewhere, and it would have put the fear of God back into the supposedly capitalistic U.S. economy.

But not bailing SVB and Signature out was never an option. Bank failures today are exceedingly rare and would cause a tremendous amount of panic, such as how the collapse of Silvergate Bank essentially a free-floating entity detached from the wider economy led here. And because SVB and Signature rode both the wave of cheap money created by Fed policy up and down, how separate can private and public interests really be?

So, if the U.S. government is officially in the business of bailing out banks, should you keep your money at a bank?

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Should I Keep My Money in Bitcoin or a Bank? - CoinDesk

March 14 (Reuters) - Imagine digitally inscribing 3D images of objects such as multi-colored spheres onto a tiny fragment of bitcoin. Then imagine selling them for $16.5 million.

Just when you thought crypto couldn't get any stranger, bitcoin accidentally births a new breed of NFTs.

The new entrants have materialized in 2023 following bitcoin network upgrades that enabled each satoshi - the smallest denomination of bitcoin, or one hundred millionth - to store a few megabytes of data, from text and images to audio and video.

The data storage was an unintended consequence of the upgrades. Now crypto enthusiasts have embedded a total of 385,000 "inscriptions" known as Ordinals on bitcoin since January, including more than 200,000 image files and over 150,000 text ones, according to Glassnode Market Intelligence.

"I think this is really the start of a fundamental shift in what you can do with bitcoin," said Alex Miller, CEO at bitcoin developer network Hiro.

The colored balls form part of TwelveFold, a collection of 300 images of 3D objects rendered in a square grid, from NFT developers Yuga Labs, best known for its Bored Ape Yacht Club. It calls the set "a visual allegory" for data on blockchain.

They became a lucrative allegory this month when the company auctioned 288 of them off for $16.5 million, according to data from research firm Delphi Digital.

Other top-selling Ordinals - named after the software protocol that facilitates inscription - include JPEGs of rocks and shadowy crowned figures which have sold for $213,845 and $273,010 respectively, according to Galaxy Digital Research.

Although the market for bitcoin NFTs has only been going since January, Galaxy estimates it could be worth $4.5 billion by 2025, basing its bullish forecast on factors such as the growth of the more established Ethereum NFT market and the fact that bitcoin is by far the most popular cryptocurrency.

Caveat emptor, though: Little can be accurately foreseen in the highly unpredictable market for non-fungible tokens, it would appear.

Overall sales of NFTs - excluding Ordinals - stood at about $1 billion last month, according to CryptoSlam data, a recovery from the $324 million in November but still a fraction of the roughly $5 billion seen last January and $2.7 billion in May.

Nonetheless, bitcoin NFTs have built up a head of steam in a short space of time. Satoshis inscribed with NFTs are involved in about 7% of the total number of bitcoin blockchain transactions, according to Glassnode data.

One of the biggest challenges for this new class of NFTs is the dearth of a user-friendly marketplaces, with early transactions taking place over-the-counter on shared online spreadsheets, according to market players.

This lack of infrastructure is a definite barrier to entry, Delphi Digital said.

Not everyone is happy about this surge of activity, especially some bitcoin purists who believe the cryptocurrency should solely be used for payments.

The average fee to make a bitcoin transaction, measured over a 7-day period, has spiked to $1.981, its highest since November, as Ordinals trading surged compared with under $1 at the start of February, according to data from Blockchain.com.

"We want transactions to remain as inexpensive as possible so people around the world can run businesses and send money," said Cory Klippsten, CEO of bitcoin-focused financial services firm Swan Bitcoin, who sees problems in "having it priced out through this non-monetary use case that's kind of frivolous".

Some critics say Ordinals are also clogging up the network; the 7-day average of time to confirm bitcoin transactions spiked to over 186 minutes in late February, its highest since November's bitcoin selloff, according to Blockchain.com.

That's since dropped to over 124 minutes, though that's still significantly longer than the range of 12.8 to 35 minutes transaction time in January and February.

"Ordinals have brought some more eyes to the network," said Brendon Sedo, a developer at the Core DAO blockchain. "But NFTs on bitcoin are a distraction from the network's core purpose, which is to serve as a permissionless network that is globally available, 24/7, and uncensorable."

Reporting by Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pravin Char

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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Cryptoverse: New bitcoin NFTs on a multi-million roll - Reuters

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - March 16, 2023) - Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY) ("Sphere 3D" or the "Company"), dedicated to becoming the leading carbon-neutral Bitcoin mining company operating at an industrial scale, provides results of its Bitcoin mining operation for the month ended February 28, 2023.

CEO Comments

"February was a game changing month for Sphere 3D. We successfully found homes for, and began deploying, the majority of the 11,000+ miners we received in January. We forged new partnerships with hosting providers in record time to fill the gap left by the December 2022 Core Scientific ('Core') bankruptcy. With the miners currently being deployed in March and April, our fleet is expected to be fully homed, and upon energization, we expect to be at approximately 1.5 EH/s."

Compute North Update

We continue to work with Compute North and their bankruptcy lawyers for the return of our deposit through the Chapter 11 process. On February 24, 2023, we filed our financial claim with the US Bankruptcy Court which included our deposit plus additional claims from January 13, 2023, the contract rejection date, while we continue to work within the Chapter 11 process to recover our funds.

Miner Delivery Update

We have begun deployment to several hosting partners for March and April energization. We deployed 2,400 miners to Lancium Mining at their Texas Facility. Lancium has the latest state of the art technology in immersion mining. We are in discussions with an another hosting provider to place 5000+ miners which we expect to be hashing in the next 30-45 days, as well as in definitive agreements to place another 2000+ miners. With the deployments above, we will have successfully placed the majority of our current fleet.

Core Scientific Update

As previously disclosed by the Company, Sphere 3D filed an arbitration request against Core Scientific ("Core") on its claim for the non-refunded portion of the Company's advanced deposits. Core subsequently filed for restructuring under Chapter 11 on December 21, 2022, citing burdensome debt obligations as a result of rising energy prices and the decline in the price of bitcoin. Sphere 3D has engaged counsel and is vigorously pursuing every available option to recover its funds. Sphere 3D is participating on the Creditors Committee for the US Bankruptcy counsel.

Story continues

Bitcoin Production and Holdings Update

In February 2023, Sphere 3D produced 35.06 Bitcoin, or 1.25 per day. Sphere 3D's mining fleet operated at 90.6 BTC/EH efficiency. Daily production volume remained flat compared to January 2023. The reduction in uptime was due to some operational issues including a leak in a transformer, a router crash, and maintenance needed on some machines.

During February 2023, the Company employed a Hybrid strategy of liquidating during bitcoin price upswings and HODL for the remainder of its holdings. The Company liquidated 41.45 Bitcoin during the month to fund working capital and hosting deposits for our S19J Pros.

Bitcoin held by the Company represents a fair market value of approximately $0.3 million based on the Bitcoin price of $23,716 on February 28, 2023. As of February 28, 2023, the Company was operating approximately 4,330 S19j Pros miners delivering a production capacity of approximately 433 PH/s.

Bitcoin Production and Holdings

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/1705/158628_6fe891cff4c3a828_0001full.jpg

CEO Closing Remarks

"February was an exciting month as we found homes for the rest of our fleet. When fully energized we expect to increase our production to almost 1.5 EH/s. This month was pivotal for Sphere 3D, and our focus is on the execution and energization of a large portion of our miners during the next 30-45 days."

About Sphere 3D

Sphere 3D Corp. (NASDAQ: ANY) is a net carbon-neutral cryptocurrency miner with decades of proven enterprise data-services expertise. The Company is growing its industrial-scale mining operation through the capital-efficient procurement of next-generation mining equipment and partnering with best-in-class data center operators. Sphere 3D is dedicated to growing shareholder value while honoring its commitment to strict environmental, social, and governance standards. For more information about the Company, please visit Sphere3D.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements generally related to future events including the timing of the proposed transaction and other information related proposed transaction. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as "may," "will," "should," "experts," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "target," "project," "contemplates," "believes," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential," or "continue" or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. Expectations and beliefs regarding matters discussed herein may not materialize, and actual results in future periods are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the projected. The forward-looking statements contained in this communication are also subject other risks and uncertainties, including those more fully described in filings with the SEC, including Sphere 3D's reports filed on Form 20-F and Form 6-K and in other filings made by Sphere 3D with the Sec from time to time and available at http://www.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, which are subject to change.

Sphere 3D Contacts

Kurt Kalbfleisch CFO, Sphere 3DInvestor.relations@sphere3d.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/158628

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Sphere 3D Corp. Provides Bitcoin Production and Mining Updates for February 2023 - Yahoo Finance

Yuri Molchan

Prominent Bitcoin advocate and investor Kiyosaki believes BTC is becoming even more important in currently unfolding crisis

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Investor, nonfiction writerand entrepreneur Robert Kiyosaki, particularly famous for his book on financial literacy "Rich DadPoor Dad," has taken to Twitter to make another prediction of an upcoming economicand financial collapse.

He mentioned Bitcoin in his tweet, reminding the audience that he believes the flagship cryptocurrency, along with a few other assets, to be vitally important now.

Kiyosaki has again drawn the attention of his large Twitter audience to the current crisis in the banking sphere and the recent collapse of three major banks Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bankand Signature Bank. All three of these were also crypto-friendly, dealing with crypto exchanges, collaborating with stablecoin issuers, and storing part of the cash balance of some crypto companies.

The chief executive of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, recently admitted in a statement that Ripple did hold part of its cash balance at Signature Bank. However, it was a really small portion,and the bank's collapse has not impacted the daily operations of Ripple.

The U.S. government also promised to maintain the access of SVB and Signature Bank's customers to their balances and allow withdrawals without spending taxpayers'money. Kiyosaki then tweeted a sarcastic comment tothat.

In today's tweet, he stated that "crash and crisis"are just beginning, and that pensions, U.S. corporate pension program 401k andIRAs (individual retirement accounts) went woke and are going broke now, as arethe banks.

Kiyosaki concluded his tweet with a traditional call to buy Bitcoin, physical goldand silver for users to hedge their risks in the current difficult period for the economy.

Earlier this year, Kiyosakitweeted that he expects BTC to surge to the astonishing level of $500,000, gold to hit $5,000 per ounce and silver to surge to $500 by 2025. The main driver for this, he believes, is going to be the cumulative effect of the U.S. government printing "billions in fake dollars."

The printing started back in 2020, when the pandemic broke out, lockdowns were implemented and the U.S. government began supporting average citizens with "survival checks"worth $1,200 per adult. Banks and large businesses were supported with bailouts.

Now, Kiyosaki reckons that Bitcoin is the "answer to the sick economy." BTC, goldand silver are the best inflation hedges, according to him.

Bitcoin is currently changing hands at $24,553, after briefly peaking at the $26,000 level on multiple factors, including a positive February CPI report, which made economists think that the Federal Reserve is likely to begin decreasing rate hikes at the March FOMC meeting.

Read more:

'Rich Dad Poor Dad' Author Says Buying Bitcoin Is Vital as 'Crash and Crisis' Just Starting - U.Today

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Bitcoin Core developer James OBeirne has proposed a new way to run a Bitcoin pruned node. His proposal overhauls the conventional method for pruning Bitcoins blockchain.

Pruning, of course, has been available to Bitcoin node operators for years.

With standard Bitcoin Core software, node operators enable pruning by setting a maximum number of megabytes they are willing to store in their bitcoin.conf file. They can also modify this setting in the settings area of Bitcoin Cores graphical user interface (GUI).

The two largest software clients for Bitcoin nodes, Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin QT, can be pruned. However, once the node owner has activated pruning, they may not transmit old blocks over the Bitcoin network nor verify old wallets.

Of course, pruning has trade-offs. First, however, to OBeirnes proposal.

OBeirne has proposed an update to the method by which full nodes prune. This proposal is part of his largerassumeUTXOprotocol project.

Rather than the status quo setting a number of blocks and compressing historical blocks prior to that milestone OBeirnes assumeUTXO is an experimental way for new Bitcoin full nodes to delay their need to verify historical transactions until the user receives recent transactions.

AssumeUTXO-compatible node clients would contain a hard-coded hash of the conditions necessary to spend all bitcoin (the UTXO set) as of a safe, recent point in time (OBeirnes variant of the popular Bitcoin Core client, Bitcoin Core #25740, supports assumeUTXO).

Read more: This Bitcoin Core update will protect full node operators from hacks

Because of its importance, developers would have to check any revision of the hard-coded assumeUTXO hash for correctness during code review. As long as the snapshot hash is correct, it would allow pruned node operators to opt-in to disregarding full data prior to that hash. This trimmed blockchain file would be much smaller than Bitcoins entire, half-terabyte blockchain.

In addition, OBeirnes proposed update could add background validation to the assumeUTXO protocol. The assumeUTXO proposal adds serialized UTXO sets, reducing the time needed to sync a new Bitcoin node. It also reduces the storage space required to save the Bitcoin blockchain.

In summary, James OBeirne proposes that pruned node operators may optionally trust a developer-reviewed snapshot of the blockchain at a specific point in history. A pruned node can use that snapshot hash to reduce the large file size of Bitcoins blockchain.

Once the node has passed an accuracy check of Bitcoins ledger using that hash, the node can delete the information used to perform the check the next time the software client restarts. After abridging this data, the node has become a pruned node. Like other pruning techniques, OBeirnes proposed feature reduces blockchain storage requirements.

Developers are still working on finalizing the assumeUTXO proposal. To be clear, assumeUTXO is not in consensus with the main Bitcoin network today. Development, safety checks, and code review are ongoing. Bitcoin Core developers are discussing OBeirnes proposal, debating its pros and cons, and debugging drafts of code.

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Bitcoin Core developer proposes new type of pruned node - Protos