Bitcoin miners fleeing China as part of the cryptocurrency industry’s “great mining migration” could begin setting up their high-energy, digital digging operations in Texas, CNBC reported.
The exodus of Chinese Bitcoin miners is the result of the country’s environmental policy efforts, and Texas — with some of the lowest energy prices in the world, according to CBNC — could be the new frontier of the crypto-gold rush.
- Bitcoin mining doesn’t take place in a real mine, but is the creation of the cryptocurrency by powerful computers that verify and track digital Bitcoin transactions in a decentralized ledger, the Deseret News reported.
- “Most miners don’t even understand the complex mathematics behind the verification process. Instead, they buy software that runs the algorithms for them,” reported the Deseret News.
- In April, China was home to around 65% of the world’s Bitcoin mining, with America ranking second with a little more than 7%, according to a University of Cambridge Judge Business School tracker.
Bitcoin mining: Short on pickaxes, high on electricity
The process of mining Bitcoin is incredibly energy intensive, as the computers used for mining require large amounts of electricity.
- Some of China’s interior provinces, which rely on coal to produce energy, that were not meeting the country’s climate expectations have given Bitcoin miners a two months timeline to pack up their computers and get out, CNBC reported.
- “Some Chinese miners have already migrated to countries in Central Asia, such as Kazakhstan and Afghanistan. Even North America is emerging as a growth market for the industry,” according to Fortune.
- “We have governors like Greg Abbott in Texas who are promoting mining. It is going to become a real industry in the United States, which is going to be incredible,” said Brandon Arvanaghi, a self-described cryptocurrency specialist and former crypto exchange security engineer, according to CNBC. “Texas not only has the cheapest electricity in the U.S., but some of the cheapest in the globe,” said Arvanaghi.