Inaccuracies in the infrastructure law would drive miners out of the United States of America. Kazakhstan now faces an electricity shortage, and blackouts abound.
By December of last year, it was already clear that the concentration of Bitcoin mining in China would gradually crumble down. However, everything accelerated when the Asian country’s repression against cryptocurrencies and digital minings started.
Since then, many miners have become nomads and now migrate where they believe better energy and regulatory conditions await them to carry out their work.
For years, China was the hot spot for several farms that used cheap energy to power their equipment. At its best, the country even processed 70% of the network’s computing power, also taking advantage of its large production of microprocessors.
Everything that Bitcoin mining needed was available in China, including maintenance and labor costs. It was not surprising that the industry grew rapidly and established itself in that region.
Bitcoin mining has long been under China’s radar but got banned in 2021 because it undermined its efforts to achieve environmental goals. Subsequently, the authorities began to punish bitcoin mining and all activity related to cryptocurrencies.
When digital mining got also condemned under various approaches, major Bitcoin mining centers got forced to close down and leave the territory. Even Bitmain, the Chinese equipment manufacturer behind the Antminer brand, stopped its sales.
Later, the cumulative processing power of the network fell to the lowest levels in a year. Bitcoin registered a loss of processing power in one day that was circling 40%. The situation took effect when the miners based in China started to transfer their operations to other nations.
From China to the United States of America to Mine bitcoins
In the search for more friendly lands to run smoothly, a good percentage of miners migrated to the United States of America. The North American country managed to displace China, concentrating at least 30% of the computing power worldwide.
The list of traditional Bitcoin mining pools changed at the end of November. The Foundry USA Pool, a Bitcoin mining pool located in the United States of America, ranked first in the race of the pools with the highest hash rate generated on this network. It was the first time a North American pool had surpassed China pools in this area.
The territory is now emerging as the next Bitcoin capital of the world. Many miners have landed there, including Poolin, the second largest Bitcoin pool.
Also, the company BIT Mining, based in the Chinese province of Shenzhen, has plans to invest USD 26 million to build its mining center in the state.
Texas has some of the cheapest energy prices worldwide due to multiple service providers competing to offer better energy. In addition, the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, has been friendly with cryptocurrencies and, in parallel efforts with legislators, is creating new laws to regulate the sector.
However, doubts have also started to emerge about the possibility of the favorable winds for Bitcoin mining in the United States of America turning because regulators are examining the activity and analyzing it from an environmental and sustainability perspective. On the other hand, Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to Greenidge Generation Holdings CEO Jeff Kirt requesting information on the impact of cryptocurrency mining on climate change.
By: Jenson Nuñez
