China’s clampdown on crypto miners in May set off a ripple effect for Bitcoin mining. First, it pushed half of the world’s BTC miners offline, which meant fewer people were mining the currency and a reduced number of machines were deployed to the operations. This led to a significant decline in Bitcoin’s power consumption and also cut down its environmental impact.
Additionally, the restrictions rendered many older and comparatively inefficient mining rigs useless, since they couldn’t be used for mining anymore.
And finally, Beijing compelled mining operations to look elsewhere for cheap electricity, which is leading them to locations that boast considerable green energy capacity.
According to Foundry CEO Mike Coyler:
Before the mining restriction came into effect, China was the world’s Bitcoin mining epicenter, with nearly three-quarters of the total BTC miners. However, in May, the country’s hash rate on the network fell by more than 50% after many provincial governments forced mining firms to suspend activities.
Today, the pioneer cryptocurrency consumes almost 0.33% of the world’s total power production, which is roughly equivalent to the electricity consumption of countries like Chile and Bangladesh.
Since Bitcoin mining is a competitive industry with low margins, it’s obvious that miners would rush to locations that offer cheap electricity.
Data indicates that many of the ousted miners are headed for the US, which has recently jumped from the fifth to the second position, and now hosts 17% of the global crypto miners. This might be a great development for Bitcoin’s carbon footprint in the longer run.
The market as a whole in North America has been pushing for energy reforms in the last few years. Furthermore, renewable power sources are becoming increasingly cost-effective in the region. This is supported by a 2020 report from the investment bank Lazard, which shows that commonly used renewable energy sources are either equal or in some cases even lower in prices than their conventional energy counterparts.
The crypto industry in the region has also not fallen behind the green energy trend. Whit Gibbs, founder and CEO of crypto mining service provider Compass, estimates that a large share of power for Bitcoin mining in the US comes from renewable energy, which he puts at more than 50%.
Also, crypto mining firms transitioning to the US or Canada are well aware of the regulatory and ethical barriers in the region.
Bitcoin mining is veering in the right direction for now. However, there are concerns over operations that are shifting to places like Kazakhstan, where data centers are largely powered by coal.
In the meantime, crypto miners in Kazakhstan will also be deterred by a new law that will introduce taxes on crypto mining from 2022. Brammer thinks that this will definitely reduce the incentives for mining in the country.