Iceland’s Crypto Mining Infrastructure Is Shaping the Global Market
Crypto mining is a high capital, high technology venture which high barriers of entry have kept a number of interested firms at arm’s length. Development of the cryptocurrency craze created a gold rush of interested investors into the industry. However, the required power supply needed to sustain production from the established mines has prevented many from achieving the originally forecasted profitability. An unexpected counter to the remarkable demands of crypto mining has been the harnessing of Iceland’s domestic resources.
Iceland’s emergence as a new-age cradle of cryptocurrency is coming more by accident than by strategic intent. The nation offers a seemingly endless supply of renewable energy and a climate perfectly suited for mining’s excessive demands. Renewable energy is not only a cleaner avenue for operations, but it aligns well with a local community not similarly focused on crypto mining. Plattsburgh, New York recently placed a ban on crypto mining because of the excessive costs.
They’re already using upwards of 15 to 25% of our power in the city. / Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read
Meanwhile, in Iceland, the nation is about to dedicate more electricity to crypto mining firms than resident’s homes. Despite the high demand, current mines have the benefit of limiting needs by naturally cooling equipment. The majority of firms must demand excessive resources to maintain a functional temperature from their equipment. Iceland’s cool climate minimizes these expenditures as managers can simply open a door or a window and achieve a similar effect.
One of the predominant concerns with Bitcoin and other decentralized tokens is that alliances could mine their way to a controlling portion of the available supply, effectively centralizing the market. Iceland’s surge into the crypto mining field will serve as a counter to this problem. Europe’s northern nations are all making steps towards renewable energies, and their similar climates create an opportunity for mining hubs to be less focused in the Asian environment of excess power supply, and newly colonized into the Nordic states.
