2 years ago
Eight U.S. lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, person sent letters to apical U.S.-based bitcoin mining firms questioning them astir their crypto mining operations. “The extraordinarily precocious vigor usage and c emissions associated with bitcoin mining could undermine our hard enactment to tackle the clime situation — not to notation the harmful impacts cryptomining has connected section environments and energy prices,” Senator Warren wrote.
US Senators Want Answers From Top Bitcoin Mining Firms
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a subordinate of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, announced Thursday that she and 7 different senators person sent letters to six crypto mining companies “raising concerns implicit their extraordinarily precocious vigor usage.”
The announcement details: “Senator Warren and her colleagues asked each institution to item their energy consumption, scaling plans, agreements with energy companies, and interaction connected vigor costs for consumers and tiny businesses by February 10, 2022.”
The letters were sent to six crypto mining firms: Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital Holdings, Stronghold Digital Mining, Bitdeer, Bitfury Group, and Bit Digital.
Senator Warren explained:
The extraordinarily precocious vigor usage and c emissions associated with bitcoin mining could undermine our hard enactment to tackle the clime situation — not to notation the harmful impacts cryptomining has connected section environments and energy prices.
She claims that “Bitcoin mining’s powerfulness depletion has much than tripled from 2019 to 2021, rivaling the vigor depletion of Washington state, and of full countries similar Denmark, Chile, and Argentina.”
“We request much accusation connected the operations of these cryptomining companies to recognize the afloat scope of the consequences for our situation and section communities,” the legislator from Massachusetts stressed.
In December past year, Senator Warren sent a akin missive to Greenidge Generation Holdings, which operates 1 of the largest bitcoin mining operations successful the U.S. She asked the institution astir their emissions and impacts connected section ecosystems and energy prices.
A report connected the bitcoin mining manufacture published by Coinshares this period notes that “Usage of vigor is simply a contentious and overmuch misunderstood relation of the Bitcoin monetary system.” The study explains, “Carbon emissions emitted by energy providers supplying the bitcoin mining web are inconsequential,” elaborating:
At 0.08% of planetary CO2e emissions, removing the full mining web from planetary request — and thereby depriving hundreds of millions of radical of their lone anticipation for a just and accessible signifier of wealth — would not magnitude to thing much than a rounding error.
What bash you deliberation astir Senator Elizabeth Warren sending letters to crypto mining firms? Let america cognize successful the comments conception below.
Kevin Helms
A pupil of Austrian Economics, Kevin recovered Bitcoin successful 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests prevarication successful Bitcoin security, open-source systems, web effects and the intersection betwixt economics and cryptography.
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