Two bitcoin (BTC) mining giants dump cheap electricity in a small Texas town.
Bitdeer, a subsidiary of Chinese giant Bitmain, and Riot Blockchain, a US-registered bitcoin miner, operate data centers housed in a former aluminum smelter in Rockdale, Texas.
The city’s aluminum smelter was once the largest in the world until its management company, Alcoa, closed down in 2008. miners opened a shop.
Although Rockdale is a small rural town with a population of only 5,600, it offers all the benefits miners seek on an industrial scale: crypto-friendly policies, large tracts of abandoned industrial infrastructure ready to be reused, and low electricity prices thanks to Liberated Texas. Market.
Rockdale Mayor John King describes the relationship between the local grid operator, the Texas Electricity Reliability Board and the miners as mutually beneficial. He stressed that miners regularly use electricity that would otherwise be wasted, and they can also stop working immediately if energy is needed elsewhere. he added:
“Miners are required to buy a certain amount of energy, and they sell it back to the market [cost] and make money. They have a contract for two or three cents … and they can sell it for $ 9 a kilowatt hour. ”
As reported by Cointelegraph on Oct.7, Riot Blockchain has more than tripled its bitcoin production this year.
The company estimates that the venture produces over 500 bitcoins per month at the Rockdale facility. At today’s prices, mined coins are worth $ 30 million a month. Riot reports that the site has 100,000 mining rigs.
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Texas lawmakers are pushing for more bitcoin mining in the state, with Senator Ted Cruz citing mining as one of the ways to extract natural gas that is currently being flared in the state.
In his speech at the Texas Blockchain Summit on October 10, Cruise stated that natural gas is currently being flared in West Texas because “there is no transportation equipment to produce natural gas where it can be used in the usual way to use natural gas. … ”
“Use this power to mine bitcoin. Part of the great thing is that the moment you do it, you are helping the environment tremendously, because instead of burning natural gas, you are using it for productive use. ”
