The Bitcoin Mining Cookie China Threw Had a Better Fortune

China’s crackdown on crypto mining just dispersed miners across the world. It’s like a cookie broken into pieces after falling from a considerable height. The United States holds the largest piece of this cookie. To the dragon’s surprise, Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market cap, has become stronger since it called down its wrath on crypto miners.

An Unintended Shake-Out

An article recently published by Forbes, an American business magazine, speculates that the miners’ shift from China helped Bitcoin become greener. The country stood as the biggest carbon emitter in 2021, responsible for 30 percent of global greenhouse gasses (GHGs) in the atmosphere. The blanket ban on crypto mining came in the same year.

About 14 percent of China’s electricity comes from coal burning and crypto mining is one energy-hungry process that may eat up electricity required to run a whole nation. The country cited environmental concerns for their decision to bar crypto miners from operating on their land. However, there does not appear to be a slip in the country’s ranking among the global carbon emitters’ list.

The available data indicates nearly a Million BTC miners globally and the US caters to a preponderance of them. Over 35 percent of hashrate comes from the country while Kazakhstan and Russia are behind with around 18 and 11 percent respectively. Though China is nowhere to be found on the list, Chinese miners are everywhere.

Crypto mining aficionados called it the “great mining migration.” Kazakhstan and Russia make up attractive locations for miners ascribing to cheap energy, however, the infrastructure is not great. Furthermore, a crypto miner told US-based media non-profit media organization National Public Radio that “Russia could seize his servers.”

This makes the US expensive but a better option for them. Renewable energy schemes appeal more to miners than their primary operations. Riot Platforms, the biggest crypto-miner in the country, sold electricity worth nearly $32 Million to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s energy grid operator, under its demand and response program.

El Salvador, a Central American country, first adopted BTC as its legal tender. Now, Salvadorians plan to evolve with their first Bitcoin mining pool styled as Lava Pool. The initial phase is focused on the development of an energy park to harness renewable energy powering ‘green mining.’

Now that the US is becoming a breeding ground for crypto miners, it will be interesting to see how the ‘natural states’ react to it. Counties including Wolfe, Haywood, Vilonia, and more have already shown their defiance towards the activity. Texas is seeing an influx of activists diving into the scene to prevent it from entering the region.

The much-awaited Bitcoin halving, an event leading to increased mining difficulty, next year could galvanize crypto miners to load their fleets with supplemental equipment. The activity is already notorious for its impact on climate. As more machines mining digital assets enter the equation, it will fan the flames to the debate in forthcoming years.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.