LIVE BLOG: Congressional Hearing Puts Crypto Energy Use in the Crosshairs

2 years ago

Crypto mining's vigor usage volition beryllium successful the crosshairs Thursday arsenic the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee discusses its biology impact. The Subcommittee connected Oversight and Investigations volition question 5 witnesses astir proof-of-work statement mechanisms, however crypto networks are powered and what tools oregon solutions beryllium to mitigate biology impacts.

The proceeding comes 1 time aft E&E News, a Politico subsidiary, revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency blocked 2 coal-powered powerfulness plants chiefly focused connected bitcoin mining from continuing to run ember ash, a "toxic slurry produced from ember power."

“The profitability of mining and the summation of the worth of [proof-of-work] cryptocurrencies implicit clip supports monolithic investments successful mining facilities, which necessitate ever-increasing amounts of vigor to powerfulness and chill machines,” a proceeding memo said.

The witnesses – Cornell Tech Professor Ari Juels, Soluna Computing CEO John Belizaire, BitFury CEO Brian Brooks, erstwhile Chelan County Public Utility District General Manager Steven Wright and Jordan Ramis shareholder Gregory Zerzan – volition stock a scope of thoughts successful prepared testimony, including endorsements of proof-of-stake statement mechanisms and questions astir the premix of vigor sources utilized to powerfulness cryptocurrencies.

11:30 a.m. ET (ND) Good greeting folks, and invited to CoinDesk's unrecorded sum of the House Energy and Commerce Committee proceeding connected cryptocurrencies and their biology impact. Titled "Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchains," the proceeding seems apt to absorption connected Bitcoin successful peculiar and proof-of-work much broadly, but I ideate we tin expect questions astir proof-of-stake and however vigor is sourced to popular up.

Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk's managing exertion for planetary argumentation and regulation. He owns marginal amounts of bitcoin and ether.

Cheyenne Ligon is simply a CoinDesk quality newsman with a absorption connected crypto regularisation and policy. She has nary important crypto holdings.

Aoyon Ashraf is crypto mining newsman with much than a decennary of acquisition successful covering equity markets


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