Bitcoin mining: US Congress in favor of PoW

The US Congress has proposed a new law in favor of Bitcoin mining. The proposal sees Proof-of-Work (PoW) helping to meet energy goals and grow the country’s economy.

Bitcoin mining contributes to US economic growth: new bill proposed

The US Congress has introduced a bill that includes Bitcoin mining as an activity that promotes the country’s economic growth. 

Not only that, the Proof-of-Work protocol was cited as potentially being helpful in meeting US energy goals. 

This is a real revelation about the importance of Bitcoin mining, which until now has been totally denigrated. Apparently though, not so much by the US Congress, which wanted to analyze its benefits and potential, to the point of supporting it with a bill.

And indeed, the text of the proposal begins with the following words:

“Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the importance of Proof-of-Work mining, used for certain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, to the United States ability to achieve its energy goals and grow its economy.”

Bitcoin Mining uses 0.14% of global energy supply

In the resolution introduced by Republican official Pete Sessions, it states that the mining of Bitcoin and other PoW cryptocurrencies is an essential process that allows a blockchain network to remain reliable, open and decentralized.

It then goes on to state that although Proof-of-Work requires energy consumption for this validation process, many of the concerns are unwarranted because the energy consumption of PoW mining is transparent and verifiable.

In this regard, here is a damning fact expressed in the bill about Bitcoin mining and its energy impact:

“[the practice] uses 0.14% of the global energy supply.”

As such, cryptocurrency mining improves the overall economic viability of renewable energy projects because of its ability to utilize excess supply.

In other words, the bill wants to emphasize the efforts of Bitcoin and crypto PoW-based farms to be environmentally conscious. In this way, the resolution envisions that methane emissions can be reduced by using stranded or wasted methane as a fuel source.

The energy issue and faulty reasoning

Last summer, research by BanklessTimes had claimed that Bitcoin mining could raise global temperatures by 2 degrees by 2040, however, a projection error was evident in the reasoning.

In fact, this conclusion was arrived at based on the calculation that on average each single Bitcoin transaction produces about 841 kilograms of CO2, and this figure would increase in the future in the case of increased BTC adoption.

This statement is a misinterpretation of the energy consumption of BTC mining, which in fact does not depend on the number of transactions. What it does depend on is solely on the convenience that miners have in consuming which, in fact, is bound to decrease over time.

Not only that, the CO2 emission related to Bitcoin mining and crypto PoW, depends on which energy source is chosen for the activity, and that is fossil fuel. In this regard, the same research stated that 57% of the energy used for BTC mining comes from renewable sources that therefore emit almost zero CO2.

The current bill in the US Congress is a testimony that the energy issue related to Bitcoin mining perhaps can be solved very soon and globally.