News

Golden Ten Data reported on April 4 that the Silicon Industry Branch of the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association conducted an in-depth survey of the silicon industry in Baotou. During the investigation, many companies indicated that the current market is facing a serious imbalance between supply and demand, prices have fallen below cost lines, and all links in the industry chain are generally under pressure from losses. Facing survival challenges, companies widely call for industry associations and the government to strengthen guidance, curb disorderly competition, create a fair market environment, and help the industry recover from the downturn as soon as possible. In particular, in terms of standard setting, it is necessary to fully consider the impact of different product types, process routes, and operating rates, and avoid a "one-size-fits-all" approach, in order to truly eliminate outdated production capacity and encourage advanced technology. During the exchanges, in-depth discussions were held on specific technological development trends such as N-type technology transformation, the application of granular silicon, the replacement of tungsten wire diamond wire, and the recycling of silicon sludge. The companies unanimously agreed that technological innovation is the key driving force for the leapfrog development of the crystalline silicon photovoltaic industry.

BlockBeats news, April 4, according to a CNN report, as the Middle East conflict enters its second month, the crisis of crude oil shortages is at risk of evolving into an even worse situation—almost everything will face shortages. The Middle East conflict has severely restricted the transportation of oil and natural gas through the Strait of Hormuz, resulting in about one fifth of global supply being cut. This disruption has not only pushed up fuel prices but also squeezed the supply of petrochemical products needed for the manufacture of everyday items like shoes, clothing, and plastic bags. As prices for materials such as plastics, rubber, and polyester rise, this pressure is spreading into every corner of the consumer market. Currently, the impact is most pronounced in Asia, a region with more than half of the world's manufacturing and a heavy reliance on imported oil and other commodities. Dan Martin, co-head of commercial intelligence at Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting, said this will spread to all goods very, very quickly, such as beer, noodles, chips, toys, and cosmetics, because plastic bottle caps, shipping pallets, snack packaging bags, and containers are becoming increasingly difficult to source. Martin added that adhesives used for footwear and furniture, industrial lubricants for machinery, and solvents required for paint and cleaning processes also all depend on petroleum-derived products.

BlockBeats reported that on April 4, at the recent BOSS Summit (Bitcoin Open Source Summit) held in Dharamshala, India, developer Bala completed a live demonstration of a pure offline Bitcoin transaction, astonishing the Bitcoin community. Bala utilized Mesh Radio (a wireless mesh network based on Meshtastic LoRa technology), using zero internet, no ISP, no Wi-Fi, and no cellular data, relying solely on pure radio waves to broadcast a real Bitcoin transaction in real-time, directly sending it to the Bitcoin mempool (transaction memory pool), achieving a complete process from "Off-Grid" to "On-Chain". This "cypherpunk ultimate demonstration" highlights Bitcoin's strong resilience as an unconfiscatable currency, especially applicable in scenarios of censorship, internet outages, disasters, or uncertain times. Bitshala officially stated: "When we say we are building unconfiscatable money for uncertain times, this is what we mean." The relevant open-source repository has been made public, supporting the connection between Meshtastic devices and Bitcoin Core, capable of splitting transaction data into small pieces, relaying it hop-by-hop between mesh nodes, and ultimately having the gateway node broadcast it to the global Bitcoin network. This demonstration quickly sparked heated discussion in the community and is regarded as an iconic development in the combination of Mesh Radio and Bitcoin, proving that the Bitcoin network can still maintain basic functionality when traditional communication infrastructure fails.