Bitcoin mining, the most important cryptocurrency in the crypto industry, is dominating Texas (United States).
Texas, the southern state of the United States with more than 695,000 km2, is becoming the preferred destination for Bitcoin miners; especially after the great migration from China.
Alexander of the TowerVice President of poolinthe second largest bitcoin mining company in the world, said told the BBC that its facilities would be moved to the city of Austin in Texas. According to De La Torre, Poolin has seen the need to move its operations out of China, after the strong restrictions that the government of that country imposed on the cryptocurrencies. Like Poolin, other companies dedicated to the mining of bitcoin (BTC) they are also moving their facilities to the US state.
BIT Mining, whose headquarters are located in the city of Shenzhen (China), is investing about 26 million dollars in the construction of a data center and cryptomining in Texas, which will use clean energy for the extraction of bitcoins in a friendly way with the environment. environment and will generate new sources of employment in the region. As well, BitMain, one of the largest manufacturers of bitcoin mining hardware, operates one of the largest crypto farms in Texas. Facilities located in the City of Rockdale are operational since 2019 and cover some 33,000 acres (13,300 hectares), with an installed capacity of 50MW that can be expanded to 300MW in the future.
Other major crypto mining companies are also located in the state, such as Whinstone Inc. and Blockcap Inc..
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Bitcoin mining and the oil industry
In addition to all the bitcoin mining farms that are located or have relocated to Texas, companies engaged in other industries within the state are also turning their sights on cryptocurrency mining. Last week, executives from the oil and gas industry met with bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners at a facility in Houston, Texas.
The news was released by CNBC, explaining that, although it seems that crypto mining and oil and gas exploitation are at opposite poles, the truth is that both industries are more compatible than it seems at first glance. The meeting was attended by 200 oil and gas industry executives and bitcoin miners, who discussed the value opportunities in their industries, how they complement each other, and the importance of educating US legislators and regulators on the cryptocurrencies.
the publication grist shared a report recently noting that in Texas, oil companies are burning more than a million cubic feet of natural gas a day, every day, since 2019, with authorization from regulators. As the publication explained, this amount of natural gas would be enough to feed the needs of about 15 million homes a year.
This impressive surplus of gas can be used by the cryptocurrency mining industry; instead of just being burned polluting the environment.
Hayden Griffin Haby III, an oilman turned bitcoiner quoted by CNBC, points out that mining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has become a unique opportunity to generate new revenue from MCF (a metric used to measure natural gas).
Initiatives of bitcoin miners in the United States
What reported Bit2Me News at the end of 2020, US companies Upstream Data and Crusoe Energy Systems they have been rehearsing bitcoin mining from residual gas produced in oil exploitation sites.
The objective of these companies is to take advantage of the residual gas produced by this activity and transform it into clean and useful energy to guarantee the operation of the cryptomining farms. Likewise, the companies seek to demonstrate the sustainability of bitcoin mining using gas as fuel, while helping to reduce the burning of gas and its release as waste into the environment.
Wind power
The availability of large renewable energy sources, such as wind, also make Texas a great location for environmentally conscious bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners.
In addition to this, Texas has politicians friendly to the cryptocurrency industry. John King, mayor of Rockdale, is mining bitcoins from his home. Also, the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott has shown his support and sympathy towards cryptocurrencies. In June, the governor of the state assured that Texas would become a leading state in cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin hash rate
The strong measures that the Chinese government took against Bitcoin miners caused a sharp drop in the hash rate or network mining power. Companies and miners were forced to take their equipment offline and move, causing the network’s computing power to drop to 84 EH/s; one of the lowest levels seen since 2019.
However, as more miners reconnect to the network, Bitcoin’s computational power has been growing, surpassing the 134 EH/s at the time of this edition. This value shows a recovery of more than 50% in the network hash rate since the end of June.
Continue reading: Bitcoin mining consumes less than 0.5% of global energy
