Could Cryptocurrency Provide A Solution To Texas’ Power Grid Problems?

• According to his tax returns obtained by Be[In]Crypto, the Texas senator purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of bitcoin from River Brokerage during a sell-off when bitcoin was trading around $36,000 and $37,000.

• Sen. Cruz revealed to the US Senate last week that he invested over $50,000 in Bitcoin during its January slump.

• The United States discovered in 2021, inexpensive power comes with very little insurance and backup preparations. The winter storm not only left people hungry, cold, and powerless, but it also increased the desperation for any extra natural-gas supply.

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas is welcome cryptocurrency miners to the state, emphasising their ability to help the state’s electrical system. Texas was totally powerless and helpless in February 2021 after a terrible winter storm completely wrecked the state’s electricity supply, resulting in widespread lethal blackouts. Mining cryptocurrency is in high demand right now, and it demands more processing power and energy than it has ever been. Locations like China and Kazakhstan have been very appealing to miners looking for inexpensive electricity, but they were greeted with strong opposition owing to environmental concerns, resulting in those possibilities being short-lived.

While it may seem absurd to consider cryptocurrency as a realistic solution to Texas’ power grid crisis, Gov. Abbott isn’t convinced of its absurdity, especially after the winter catastrophe in February 2021. But why would Texas consider crypto in the first place?

Market For Competitive Power

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Texas’ electricity market is unquestionably competitive and important to any miner’s deepest objectives. The state’s mix of high-renewable energy generation and laissez-faire regulation allows the state to have some of the lowest electricity rates in the country. However, as the United States discovered in 2021, inexpensive power comes with very little insurance and backup preparations. The winter storm not only left people hungry, cold, and powerless, but it also increased the desperation for any extra natural-gas supply.

At the end of the day, Texas’ cheap prices didn’t leave enough room for a buffer to fulfil demand in an emergency, demonstrating that the state’s current electricity grid is woefully inadequate. 

Take Kazakhstan And Iceland, For Example

Texas is growing more appealing, partly as a result of official rejections in China, Kazakhstan, and Iceland, which have fully prohibited or curtailed crypto mining due to its environmental effects and direct influence on electricity networks. Kazakhstan’s government shut down the internet in January over concerns about the country’s cryptocurrency mining practises, leaving most miners empty-handed. Kazakhstan accounts for 18 percent of all Bitcoin processing activity, making it the world’s second-largest country after the United States.

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Governor Abbott Isn’t Alone In Thinking It’s An Excellent Idea

In terms of Gov. Abbott’s endorsement of Bitcoin, he appears to have the necessary support to back up his position. Following the winter storm, Gideon Powell, an oil wildcatter from Dallas, met with Abbott and expressed the governor’s support for cryptocurrency. Powell recalls proposing cryptocurrency to Abbott five years ago. In an interview, Lee Bratcher, president of the Texas Blockchain Council, said, It’s actually a good dynamic that produces tax income, job growth, and also is a grid strengthening mechanism. Governor Abbott has been quite helpful.

The governor has long been a supporter of cryptocurrency mining. Gideon Powell, an oil scavenger in Dallas, remembers presenting crypto to Abbott shortly after he started mining Bitcoin nearly five years ago. The governor grilled him about how the business could help stabilise the system at another meeting a few weeks after last year’s storm. He seemed to get it, Powell added. And it’s such a strange concept: ‘Hey, we’re going to increase energy consumption in an energy system to stabilise the grid.’

Don’t forget about Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), who has recently become more vocal about the economic benefits of bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Sen. Cruz revealed to the US Senate last week that he invested over $50,000 in Bitcoin during its January slump. According to his tax returns obtained by Be[In]Crypto, the Texas senator purchased between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of bitcoin from River Brokerage during a sell-off when bitcoin was trading around $36,000 and $37,000.

Sen. Cruz recently advocated that merchants serving Congress be given the option of collecting payments in cryptocurrency, fueling the Lone Star State’s goal to become a crypto mining powerhouse for the rest of the country. Electric firms are currently involved in a legal battle to force a change after the state of Texas was rendered utterly helpless as a result of the alleged neglect that the power grid left for Texas people to deal with.