They Were Wrong: Bitcoin Miners Disprove Criticism With Facts — Bitcoin Mining Landscape Overview
Data, trends, and insights in the Bitcoin mining industry
Key takeaways:
- Cold Crisis: Texas Miners Slash Bitcoin Hashrate by 25% to Fortify Local Grid
- Core Scientific Set to Re-List Shares After Emerging From Bankruptcy
- Bitcoin Mining Achieves Record 54.5% Sustainable Energy Usage
Cold Crisis: Texas Miners Slash Bitcoin Hashrate by 25% to Fortify Local Grid
Bitcoin’s hashrate has recently experienced a significant 25% drop within a three-day period, attributed to miner operators in Texas curtailing power to reinforce the local grid amid a cold outbreak.
According to data from MiningPoolStats, the real-time hashrate connected to all known mining pools decreased from 570 EH/s to 425 EH/s, rebounding to 450 EH/s. Assuming an efficiency of 30 J/TH, this decline implies a reduction of more than four gigawatts of power capacity worldwide.
📉 Foundry USA Pool, a major contributor, witnessed its miner customers unplugging as much as 75 EH/s of hashrate.
MiningPoolStats revealed that Foundry USA Pool’s hashrate was at 155 EH/s on Sunday, dropping to 80 EH/s on Tuesday morning Eastern Time. Simultaneously, the hashrate connected to Antpool also declined by around 30 EH/s. These two major mining pools contributed to over 70% of the network’s hashrate decline since Sunday.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), Texas’s grid operator, issued a note on Sunday regarding the potential electrical demand surge due to extreme cold weather.
Two days later, ERCOT noted that it successfully weathered through “record-breaking peak times,” showcasing resilience during challenging circumstances and the good will of miners who have set up shop in the region.
Core Scientific Set to Re-List Shares After Emerging From Bankruptcy
Core Scientific, a major bitcoin miner, is poised to re-list its shares on Nasdaq by the end of this month following approval of its Chapter 11 reorganization plans.
The company, once the largest publicly traded bitcoin miner during the 2021 bull market, filed for bankruptcy in December 2022 when the bitcoin price plummeted.
With a rise in bitcoin prices to $43,000 and renewed investor interest, Core Scientific aims to maintain its lead among peers, projecting 182,000 mining rigs in 2024 and nearly $600 million in annual revenue, growing to almost $1 billion by 2027.
Existing shareholders will receive around 60% equity in the reorganized company.
Bitcoin Mining Achieves Record 54.5% Sustainable Energy Usage
Bitcoin mining’s sustainable energy usage has reached an unprecedented high of 54.5%, marking a 3.6% increase in 2023, according to the Bitcoin ESG Forecast.
Analyzing data from its Bitcoin Energy and Emissions Sustainability Tracker (BEEST) model, the forecast compared Bitcoin’s sustainable energy mix to other industries, revealing that Bitcoin mining leads in sustainability across various subsectors.
The research also highlights off-grid Bitcoin miners using methane emissions, contributing to a record 7.3% emission mitigation without offsets, surpassing any other industry.
With the global shift to greener grids, on-grid Bitcoin miners have seen a 29% improvement in emission intensity since 2021.
Bitcoin miners’ commitment to sustainable practices remains a driving force, marking a positive trajectory for the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining — an issue it was deeply criticized for only a few years ago.
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