Texas is quickly becoming one of the biggest crypto mining hubs in the world to the point that current governor Greg Abbott is making bringing more crypto jobs and companies to the Lone Star State part of his reelection campaign.
Texas and Crypto Mining… A Great Match?
The migration of crypto miners to Texas began in the summer of last year. China – which at one point housed more than 65 percent of the world’s digital mining projects – decided the practice should be illegal as the country sought to become more carbon neutral. With nowhere to go in their home nation, many miners packed up and headed for Texas, which is known for offering cheap electricity rates.
Geosyn Mining co-founder Caleb Ward is one of the new miners that has recently set up shop in the state. In an interview, he stated:
We have launched our first bitcoin mine in downtown Fort Worth, which will be a showpiece for our larger mine located right outside the city. We’re using income from this 20,000-square-foot facility outside of Fort Worth to bootstrap a significant solar power build.
Texas is slated to become a major capital for bitcoin mining in the coming years, but not everyone is happy about this. There are several environmentalists out there claiming that with Texas’ size and scope, there is a lot of space for miners to create new projects, which could potentially harm the already ailing planet. One such critic is Frank Pallone, a democrat representative from New Jersey. He stated:
Last year, there were hundreds of thousands of transactions on this network. Just imagine the climate implications.
Still, others are quite enthusiastic about all the state has to offer. Kevin Pan – the CEO of Poolin, one of the biggest bitcoin mining companies across the globe – explained that his company has a new facility based in the state, and they are also taking measures to make it more environmentally friendly. He said:
Texas will be the bitcoin capital of the world in the next two years. We’re building solar panels around our site in Texas. There’s a lot of windmills around the coast as well.
Maybe the Environment Is Safe After All…
Mining consultant Alejandro de la Torre said the energy implications many individuals are making are exaggerated. He believes that there are enough methods out there to make mining safe for the environment while also allowing new points of the economy to thrive. He stated:
In Texas, they’ve been incentivizing renewable energy initiatives so that it’s affordable to add wind and solar power equipment. I’m focused right now on connecting Chinese miners to businesses in Texas. One of the main reasons that Chinese miners are interested in operating in Texas is they believe it is less likely the government will come to shut down their operations if they’re located in Texas.
Source: https://www.livebitcoinnews.com/the-crypto-mining-scene-in-texas-keeps-growing/