Riot Inc Disputes New York Times’ Claims on Bitcoin Mining

• Riot Platform denies Bitcoin mining contributes to environmental pollution.
• New York Times claimed Riot Inc uses as much electricity as 300,000 households.
• Over 50% of Bitcoin mining uses environmentally friendly energy.

Riot Platform, a significant player in the Bitcoin (BTC) mining industry, has recently refuted claims that BTC mining contributes significantly to environmental pollution and exploits power grids to generate profits.

Consequently, these reports come after the New York Times article claimed that Riot Inc uses a large amount of electricity in mining cryptocurrency. According to the data in the article, the Texas-based platform uses as much electricity as 300,000 households use in the city.

The New York Times Article reported that Riot Inc ranks as the top electricity consumer among 30 crypto-mining industries. Specifically, Riot utilizes approximately 450 megawatts, releasing around 1.9 million tons of carbon emissions.

Riot Company’s reports assert that Bitcoin mining has no adverse environmental effects. Riot claims that its data centre draws power from the Texas power grid, which they consider the cleanest and most renewable energy-sourced grid in the US.

According to research that was conducted independently on renewable energy production, the percentage of Texas’s energy consumption that comes from renewable sources is merely 26%. Additionally, this is because Texas also produces significant energy from fossil fuels. South Dakota is the state that creates most of its own green power, accounting for 83% of the total.

In response to the aforementioned news, Riot Company denied the report’s validity, stating it was not genuine. Besides, the company further claims that releasing such reports were politically motivated, intending to serve particular interests.

The price of Bitcoin has surged recently, causing Riot Inc shares to experience a significant increase of approximately 4%. This rise in the value of Bitcoin has had a direct impact on the share prices of Riot Inc.

The Reality of Bitcoin Mining and Energy Usage

The Cambridge Bitcoin Power Consumption Index (CBECI) was established by academics at Cambridge University in 2017. This index analyzed the amount of power consumed for Bitcoin mining in each country. However, the proportion of energy that comes from renewable sources is not taken into consideration for this score.

Since it requires a lot of energy, Bitcoin has been criticized for many years. However, according to research conducted by ESG expert and investor Daniel Batten, more than 50% of the Bitcoin mining process is said to use environmentally friendly energy.

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