Friday Five: December 18-22

Can renewable power offset Bitcoin’s massive energy demands? (The Verge)

Mining blockchains requires a tremendous amount of energy. Digiconomist reports a single bitcoin transaction can consume as much electricity as it’d take to power eight homes in the US for one day. HydroMiner, a bitcoin mining company, believes its method of using hydropower mills to mine the cryptocurrency is a cleaner and more profitable solution. Tam Hunt, a renewable energy expert, believes regulations are coming for the Bitcoin miners who do not practice renewable energy methods

Amazon acquired connected camera and doorbell startup Blink (TechCrunch)

Amazon has recently acquired Blink, a home security camera, and video doorbell company. In an obvious move to expand its connected home space, Amazon is creating pressure on Alphabet-owned Nest, and Ring. With Its wildly successful Alexa smart speakers, Cloud Cam, and Amazon Key, Amazon is offering consumers a lower cost point and added convenience in the connected home space.

Carbon raises $200 million in series D funding for clip 3D printing technology (3D Printing Industry)

At a recent valuation of $1.7 Billion dollars, Carbon has raised $200 million on its continuance liquid interface production (CLIP) 3D printing. Joe DeSimone, CEO of Carbon, said: “Carbon is really focused on production, and I think we’re uniquely positioned in that regard”. Using their SpeedCell technology, Carbon looks to “upend traditional methods of manufacturing” by eliminating prototyping and tooling steps.

Toyota’s plans to roll out 10 all-electric vehicles (Fortune)

In an effort to compete with Tesla, Nissan, GM, and others, Toyota will add more than 10 all-electric vehicle models to its line up by the early 2020’s. Beginning with China, the fastest growing automotive market, they will start their sizeable investment of $13.3 billion in electric vehicles. By 2030, Toyota predicts it will sell 5.5 million electrified vehicles, 1 million being zero emission.

Smart Speakers to outsell wearables during U.S. holidays, as demand for wearables slow (TechCrunch)

Emarketer’s most recent forecast shows a slowing growth rate for wearable devices including fitness trackers, and smartwatches. The firm has estimated growth in the wearables market to reach 11.9% in 2018, and decreasing to single-digit growth by 2019. Although the market is continuing to grow, it has not been able to reach the levels of success the smart speakers have. eMarketer predicts 55% of U.S. households will have a smart speaker by 2022.