[ad_1]
2021 has been a great year for bitcoin mining in America, as new talent – and equipment – floods the market, but some states are definitely more attractive destinations than others.
The latest data from the Global Energy Institute shows the average price of electricity to be the lowest in states like Texas and Washington, which certainly matches the fact that both states are increasingly popular destinations to hit from. new digital parts.
While the cost of electricity isn’t everything in deciding where to locate, it certainly goes a long way.
Large-scale miners compete in a low-margin industry, where their only variable cost is usually energy, so they have an incentive to migrate to the cheapest energy sources in the world.
The price of electricity in the United States varies.
In California and Connecticut, you will pay between 18 and 19 cents per kilowatt hour, while in Texas, Wyoming, Washington and Kentucky, you will pay less than half, depending. the Global Energy Institute, which publishes an annual map of the country’s electricity prices, using the most recent full year of data available from the US Energy Information Administration.
The institute warns, however, that “while the energy mix available in a state will play an important role in the state’s electricity prices, energy limiting policies in some states act to artificially increase prices, which makes the price of electricity much higher for consumers and businesses. “
In the end, what matters most to bitcoin miners is finding cheap sources of electricity.
That’s part of why the United States is proving particularly attractive to potential miners, given that the country is home to some of the cheapest energy sources on the planet, many of which tend to be renewable.
Fred Thiel, CEO of cryptocurrency mining specialist Marathon Digital Holdings, expects most new miners moving to North America to be powered by renewables or gas offset by credits. renewable energy.
“Mining is price sensitive, so look for the cheapest energy and the cheapest energy tends to be renewable because if you burn fossil fuels… it has costs of mining, refining and transportation, ”said Adam, CEO of Blockstream. Back said.
Washington state is the mecca for hydroelectric mining farms, while Texas’ share of renewables is increasing over time, with 20% of its electricity coming from wind in 2019.
Electricity costs, however, are not everything. Friendly policymakers and sufficient infrastructure are also key factors.
Take Texas.
It has a deregulated power grid that allows customers to choose between electricity providers, and most importantly, its political leaders are pro-crypto – dream conditions for a miner looking for a kind welcome and sources. cheap energy.
“You are going to witness a drastic change over the next few months,” Bitcoin mining engineer Brandon Arvanaghi said. “We have governors like Greg Abbott in Texas promoting mining. It’s going to become a real industry in the United States, which is going to be amazing.”
The United States also spent years investing in cryptomining infrastructure, long before it was popular.
When bitcoin collapsed in late 2017 and the broader market entered a multi-year cryptocurrency winter, there had not been much demand for large bitcoin farms. American mining operators saw their openness and jumped at the chance to deploy cheap money to develop the mining ecosystem in the United States.
“Large publicly traded miners were able to raise capital to make big purchases,” said Mike Colyer, CEO of digital currency company Foundry, which has helped bring more than $ 300 million in mining equipment to America. North.
Companies like North American cryptomining operator Core Scientific continued to build hosting spaces throughout the period so that they had the capacity to plug in new equipment, according to Colyer. Core, which operates in North Dakota, North Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky, is one of the largest providers of blockchain infrastructure and hosting in North America.
[ad_2]
Source link