Bitcoin mining, the most important cryptocurrency in the crypto industry, is dominating Texas (United States).
Texas, the southern US state with more than 695.000 km2, is becoming the preferred destination for Bitcoin miners, especially after the great migration from China.
Alejandro de la Torre, VP Poole's, the second largest bitcoin mining company in the world, said Poolin told the BBC that its facilities would be moved to the city of Austin in Texas. According to De La Torre, Poolin has been forced to move its operations out of China, following the strong restrictions that the government of that country imposed on cryptocurrencies, . Like Poolin, other companies dedicated to mining bitcoin (BTC) They are also moving their facilities to the US state.
Bit Mining, whose main headquarters are located in the city of Shenzhen (China), is investing nearly 26 million dollars in the construction of a data and crypto mining center in Texas, which will use clean energy for the extraction of bitcoins in an environmentally friendly way and will generate new sources of employment in the region. Also, Bitmain, one of the largest manufacturers of hardware equipment for bitcoin mining, operates one of the largest crypto farms in Texas. The facility located in the city of Rockdale is operational since 2019 and cover some 33.000 acres (13.300 hectares), with an installed capacity of 50 MW that can be expanded in the future to 300 MW.
Other important crypto mining companies are also located in the state, such as Whinstone Inc y Blockcap Inc.
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Bitcoin mining and the oil industry
In addition to all the bitcoin mining farms that are either located or have moved to Texas, companies in other industries within the state are also turning their sights toward cryptocurrency mining. Last week, oil and gas industry executives met with bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners at a facility located in Houston, Texas.
The news was released by CNBC, explaining that, although it may seem 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. meeting The event was attended by 200 oil and gas industry executives and bitcoin miners, who discussed the value opportunities for their industries, how they complement each other, and the importance of educating U.S. lawmakers and regulators about cryptocurrencies.
The publication grist shared a report recently noted that in Texas oil companies are flaring more than one million cubic feet of natural gas per day, every day, since 2019, with authorization from regulators. As the publication explained, this amount of natural gas would be enough to fuel the needs of about 15 million homes per 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 cited by CNBC, notes that mining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has emerged as a unique opportunity to generate new revenue from MCF (a metric used to measure natural gas).
Bitcoin mining initiatives in the United States
Just like reported Bit2Me News at the end of 2020, American companies Upstream Data y Crusoe Energy Systems they have been rehearsing Bitcoin mining from waste gas produced at oil exploitation sites.
The goal 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 crypto mining 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.
Energía eólica
The availability of large renewable energy sources, such as wind power, also makes Texas an excellent location for environmentally conscious bitcoin and cryptocurrency miners.
In addition to this, Texas has politicians who are friendly to the cryptocurrency industry. John King, the mayor of Rockdale, is mining bitcoins from his home. Also, the governor of Texas Greg Abbott has shown its support and sympathy towards cryptocurrencies. In June, the state's governor assured that Texas would become a leading state in cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin Hash Rate
The Chinese government's crackdown on Bitcoin miners has caused a sharp drop in the hash rate or network mining power. Companies and miners were forced to disconnect and move their equipment, causing the network's computing power to fall 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 PE/s at the time of writing. This value shows a recovery of more than 50% in the network's hash rate since the end of June.
Continue reading: Bitcoin mining consumes less than 0,5% of global energy
