US bitcoin miners doubled their power consumption in four months
Between April and August, the US’ share of global computing power devoted to mining bitcoin more than doubled, from 17% to 35%, as miners looked to relocate from China after the government there began cracking down on cryptocurrency.
China’s share, in the same period, fell from 46% to near-zero, according to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), which compiled the data. The US became the world’s leading bitcoin miner in this four-month period, followed by Kazakhstan and Russia. In the US, miners find a transparent regulatory environment, as well as states like Texas eager to welcome the crypto industry; even if the power isn’t as cheap as in Kazakhstan, the skyrocketing prices of bitcoin make it easy for miners to pay the electricity bill at the end of the month.
This means that, in tandem, the consumption of electricity by American bitcoin miners has approximately doubled as well. CCAF calculated the global bitcoin network used nearly 8 terawatt hours of power in September 2021—a rate of use that translates, for US bitcoin miners alone, to around 35 terawatt hours a year, or roughly three times the annual electricity use of Sri Lanka.
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