Genesis Digital Assets announces new data center in Texas

November 2, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Genesis Digital Assets' new Bitcoin Texan mining center will have a capacity of 300 megawatts.

Major U.S.-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Genesis Digital Assets is building a new data center in West Texas.

According to the firm’s Nov.1 announcement, the new industrial-scale BTC mining data center will have a capacity of 300 megawatts and will operate using unspecified “sustainable infrastructure.” Its energy will be sourced from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

As part of the announcement, Genesis co-founder and executive chairman Abdumalik Mirakhmedov emphasized that “sustainability” is a key part of the firm’s plans for “rapid expansion.”

ERCOT supplies more than 26 million customers in Texas with electricity. As of April this year, 42% of its energy supply was sourced from wind and solar.

Genesis is one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the U.S., with the firm estimating it has mined more than $1 billion worth of BTC since its launch in 2013. As of October 2021, Genesis' data centers represented an operational capacity exceeding 170 megawatts or a total hash rate of 3.8 exahashes per second (EH/s).

The firm has outlined that another 9.4 EH/s will go “online during the next 12 months,” with the company aiming to surpass a total capacity of 1.4 gigawatts by the end of 2023. Genesis estimates it represented 2.4% of the Bitcoin network’s total hashing power during September.

Major U.S.-based Bitcoin (BTC) mining firm Genesis Digital Assets is building a new data center in West Texas.

Genesis has raised a total of $556 million from two separate funding rounds in 2021 to fuel its aggressive plans for expansion.

In July, the firm announced a $125 million equity funding round, with some of the funds going towards a deal to purchase 20,000 Bitcoin miners from Canaan the following month. As part of the deal, Canaan also granted Genesis an opportunity to purchase up to 180,000 additional BTC mining machines.

In September, the firm secured $431 million to expand its U.S. and Norther European operations in a funding round led by Paradigm.

US Bitcoin miner Stronghold files for $100M IPO to fund massive expansion

July 28, 2021 Coin Telegraph

US Bitcoin miner Stronghold files for 0M IPO to fund massive expansion

$100 million IPO

Sustainably focused and vertically integrated Bitcoin mining company Stronghold Digital Mining has filed for a $100 million initial public offering with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pennsylvania-based Bitcoin mining firm Stronghold Digital Mining has filed for a $100 million initial public offering (IPO) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The firm filed its S-1 form on July 27 and if given the green light by the SEC, Stronghold intends to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq Global Market under the “SDIG” ticker.

Stronghold is a sustainably focused and vertically integrated Bitcoin mining company that was founded in 2021. In June Cointelegraph reported that the firm completed two private equity securities raises worth $105 million.

According to the new filing, Stronghold will use the funds for general corporate purposes such as “acquisitions of miners and power generating assets” with the firm outlining plans to significantly increase its total hash rate capacity:

“With part of the proceeds of this offering, we intend to procure an additional 27,900 miners, which we anticipate will bring our total hash rate capacity to approximately 3,000 PH/s by December 2021 and to over 5,300 PH/s by December 2022.”

The firm stated that it currently operates around 1,800 crypto mining machines with an estimated hash rate capacity of 85 petahashes per second (PH/s) and already has more machines on the way.

Stronghold has entered into “three definitive agreements with multiple suppliers” to purchase the more than 27,000 mining machines, which the firm estimates will have a minimum total hash rate capacity of 2,600 PH/s. It expects to acquire 93% of the machines in 2021, and the remaining 7% to be delivered in 2022.

The firm operates what they describe as “low-cost, environmentally beneficial power generation facilities,” and mines Bitcoin by converting waste coal into energy on a scale equivalent to “a large-scale” hydropower plant, and estimates that for every Bitcoin it mines, 200 tonnes of waste coal is destroyed.

The Scrubgrass Generation Plant in Venango County is the firm’s first power generation facility, and the firm’s power generation processes allow it to rehabilitate large areas of land that were devastated as a result of waste coal acid drainage (AMD).

Stronghold also stated in the filing that it intends to house the new mining machines at its current facility, as well as at two new plants that it is working to acquire.

The first is the “Panther Creek Energy Facility” — a coal refuse power generation facility under contract to purchase and the second is an unnamed facility that uses the same coal recycling methods, which Stronghold has under a letter of intent to purchase.

SpaceX owns Bitcoin, Elon Musk and Nic Carter believe BTC is becoming greener

July 22, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Musk revealed that SpaceX owns Bitcoin and that Tesla may be close to accepting BTC payments again after looking into BTC’s sustainability.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed for the first time that his firm SpaceX owns Bitcoin (BTC).

The company is yet to officially announce how much Bitcoin it has purchased, however Musk's other company Tesla purchased $1.5B of the cryptocurrency earlier this year which sparked a major Bitcoin price rally.

That rally came to an abrupt end after Tesla stopped taking Bitcoin payments due to environmental concerns, but speaking at "The ₿ Word" — a virtual Bitcoin (BTC) event — the erratic tech billionaire suggested Tesla was on the verge of accepting the cryptocurrency again following promising signs the percentage of renewable energy used for mining was increasing.

The changing narrative of Bitcoin going "green" may help reignite a rally, with Coin Metrics co-founder Nic Carter telling CNBC a few hours ago that BTC’s fundamentals are getting better in terms of sustainability.

Musk appeared alongside Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and moderator Steve Lee from Square Crypto. Musk did not reveal any additional details about SpaceX's purchase apart from saying:

“I do own Bitcoin, Tesla owns Bitcoin, SpaceX owns Bitcoin, and I do personally own a bit of Ethereum and Dogecoin of course.”

He did add that: “We’re not selling any Bitcoin, nor am I selling anything personally or nor is SpaceX selling any Bitcoin.”

The statement confirms longstanding speculation the space infrastructure company was adding Bitcoin to its reserves. In mid-March, Anthony Scaramucci claimed in a Tweet that he believed Musk did not stop with just Tesla's purchase.

Elon Musk didn’t stop with Tesla. I understand that SpaceX owns #bitcoin on its balance sheet. @elonmusk owns over $5 billion in #bitcoin via Tesla, SpaceX, and personally. No living person has done more to protect the planet against climate change. (1/2)
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) March 19, 2021

During the event, Musk donned a BTC themed t-shirt and appeared to be relatively optimistic about the future of digital gold as he stated that he owns "much more Bitcoin than Ether or DOGE."

In case you were wondering, this is the shirt that @elonmusk is wearing. pic.twitter.com/SNd0a8LLjj
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) July 21, 2021

Musk stated that there “appears to be a positive trend” in renewable energy usage for BTC mining, citing the recent closure of coal-powered mining plants in China.

“I want to do a little more diligence to confirm that the percentage of renewable energy usage is most likely at or above 50% and that there is a trend towards increasing that number. If so, Tesla will resume accepting Bitcoin,” he said.

Nic Carter discusses mining on CNBC

Speaking about Musk’s latest comments with CNBC’s Fast Money on July 22, Carter said he was “glad” that Musk had began to evaluate the “ facts on the ground because they are very favorable.”

Carter echoed Musk’s sentiments on China-based BTC mining, noting that the “Chinese hash rate was very much influenced by energy produced by coal,” and that there had been a lack of transparency from “anonymous miners” in that region.

“The fundamentals are getting better in terms of the sustainability of Bitcoin,” Carter said. The Coinmetrics co-founder pointed to the fact miners in the U.S and Canada are more likely to use sustainable practices and are more willing to disclose information.

“A lot of that [mining in China] has been replaced by mining in Canada and the U.S., where miners are much more sustainably focused. We’re also seeing a lot more disclosure from miners, 32% of the hash rate joined a council, the Bitcoin Mining Council, and they produce quarterly disclosures now,” he said.

Carter referenced the Bitcoin Mining Council's (BMC) recent study which surveyed 32% of miners on the BTC.network. The poll produced an estimate of a 67% sustainable power mix in Q2.

It is unclear if Musk has factored in this survey as part of his due diligence, however, as it relied on self-reported data from a limited set of just three survey questions.

Carter conceded that the sustainability of BTC is not going to be fully verifiable until the world sees where the majority of miners set up shop following the exodus from China. However, in his own view, he stated that:

“I think Bitcoin is perfectly suitable for payments today, and of course the environmental costs are offset by its enormous utility”

New York locals accuse gas-fired mining operation of heating Seneca Lake

July 6, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Residents are concerned over the environmental impact of Greenidge’s gas-fired Bitcoin mining plant, asserting that the firm is heating the lake and may be killing marine life.

New York locals are accusing Greenidge Generation’s gas-fired Bitcoin mining plant of heating Seneca Lake in upstate New York.

On a daily basis, the Greenidge plant is permitted to withdraw 139 million gallons of water from the lake and discharge 134 million gallons of water. The plant is also allowed to discharge water with a temperature of up to 108 degrees Fahrenheit (F) in the winter, and up to 86F in the summer.

The residents of Dresden have expressed concern over the rising temperatures of the lake. The sustainability of trout species that populate the lake is a key concern for locals, with the fish thriving in temperatures between 52F and 64F, while levels above 75F are lethal for some species. On July 5, local homeowner, Abi Buddington, told NBC:

"The lake is so warm you feel like you're in a hot tub."

In April, Michael McKeon, a representative of Greenidge, refuted accusations the firm had raised the temperature of Seneca Lake.

“We are not blasting heated water into the lake, that's not true. We have the most advanced technology and we will continue to invest in the most advanced technology to protect the fish in the lake,” a spokesperson said.

On May 9, Greenidge shared information from its data center, showing that between March 1 and April 17 – a critical period of the local trout spawning season, its daily discharge temperatures ranged between 46.6F and 54.6F.

A thermal study on Seneca Lake’s water temperatures is yet to be conducted, with an upcoming analysis currently slated to take place in 2023.

Since the start of June, Greenidge’s Bitcoin mining operations have been carbon neutral, with the firm announcing plans to purchase carbon offsets as part of its sustainability goals.

The plant, located in Dresden, New York, is currently capable of drawing roughly 41 megawatts (MW) of power, with Greenidge planning to expand its capacity to 85 MW by 2022.

Judith Enck, a former regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is unconvinced by the firm’s actions, telling NBC:

"Carbon offsets is not a particularly effective way to reach greenhouse gas reduction goals. And there is no system in place to regulate it in New York."

Atlas Holdings acquired the Greenidge plant in 2014, converting it from a coal burner to a natural gas burner before reopening in 2017.

Local activist group, the Seneca Lake Guardian, describe the plant as burning fossil fuels “to make fake money in the midst of climate change.”

Cointelegraph reported on July 2 that Greenidge is planning to expand its crypto mining operations to South Carolina as early as this year. The firm plans to expand its crypto mining operations across multiple locations and achieve an operational capacity of at least 500MW by 2025.

Bitcoin Mining Council survey estimates a 56% sustainable power mix in Q2

July 2, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin Mining Council

According to the Bitcoin Mining Council, the global Bitcoin mining industry now uses 56% sustainable energy.

The global Bitcoin mining sector has reached a 56% sustainable power mix in Q2, according to estimates from a Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) report.

“Bitcoin mining uses a negligible amount of energy, is rapidly becoming more efficient, and is powered by a higher mix of sustainable energy than any major country or industry,” a July 1 press release from the council stated.

The estimate was based on a three question survey of just 32% of the miners on the network. It found respondents “are currently utilizing electricity with a 67% sustainable power mix” which it used as the basis for its 56% estimate across the overall network.

One of the BMC’s core aims is to provide transparent and verifiable data on renewable energy usage in the Bitcoin mining industry.

However, the validity of the data and estimates resulting from BMC’s survey is unclear, as it relies heavily on voluntary and self-reported responses from just a subset of the network. The BMC vaguely notes that its estimated Global Bitcoin network annualized power is based on its own “analysis, assumptions and exploration.”

The BMC defines sustainable electricity as “hydro, wind, solar, nuclear, geothermal, and carbon-based generation with net carbon credits,” which are based on principles from the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero by 2050 report.

Don’t trust, verify?

This new BMC study seems unlikely to sway Elon Musk just yet, who stated last month that Tesla would resume allowing Bitcoin transactions when the global Bitcoin mining network was verifiably backed by at least 50% renewables.

MicroStrategy CEO and Bitcoin Mining Council member Michael Saylor was “pleased” with the report, however, noting that the Bitcoin mining industry has “voluntarily” worked together to provide “critical information to the general public and policymakers”

He said it would help “clarifying common misconceptions about the nature and scale of Bitcoin energy usage."

*Global Sustainable Energy Mix: Bitcoin Mining Council*

The survey asked just three questions to participants:

"How much electricity does your total fleet consume today? What is the total % of sustainable electricity within your fleet's power generation mix today? What is the total aggregate hashrate of your fleet today?"

The study comes at a pivotal moment in Bitcoin mining history, as Chinese-based miners either shutting up shop, or flocking overseas to energy-cheap hubs such as Quebec in Canada, and Kazakhstan in Central Asia. It remains to be seen how the upheaval in mining will affect the use of renewable energy, though there are hopes it will have a positive effect.

*Bitcoin Mining Global Energy Use: Bitcoin Mining Council*

Chinese BTC miners equivalent to Quebec’s output on the move: Slush Pool

May 28, 2021 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin mining

According to Edward Evenson, a Bitcoin miner from Slush Pool, Chinese BTC miners are on the move.

Edward Evenson, head of business development at Slush Pool owner Braiins, reports that a large number of Chinese BTC mining machines equivalent to Quebec’s entire output are currently en route to North America and Europe.

For those interested in the #Bitcoin mining news coming out of China

I’ve had 300-400MW of mining machines contact me to help them distribute their machines across NA and some parts of EU. Some have also begun shipping machines to Kazakhstan.
— Edward Evenson (@WillHash4Coins) May 27, 2021

In Twitter thread on May 28, Evenson revealed that some Chinese BTC miners also have their eyes on Europe, and while others have already began moving machines to Kazakhstan:

“I’ve had 300-400MW of mining machines contact me to help them distribute their machines across NA and some parts of EU. Some have also begun shipping machines to Kazakhstan.”

To put that in perspective, Jonathan Côté of Hydro-Québec recently told Global News Canada that the 90 mining outfits in Quebec use around 400 megawatts between them.

China’s decision to crack down on crypto mining last week due to environmental concerns (while possibly also aiming to strengthen the digital yuan) has seen a rapid evolution in the Bitcoin mining landscape.

According to estimates from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, or CBECI, China accounted for an estimated 65% of Bitcoin’s global hashrate in April. The ban has since triggered several large Bitcoin mining firms to cease operations in the country such as BTC.TOP — which accounts for an estimated 2.5% of the global hashrate.

Along with a rapid-fire mining hardware sell off that is happening across the nation, Everson also added that the ban has speed up plans for the geographic diversification from Chinese suppliers such as MicroBT and Bitmain, noting that:

“These parties were interested in having more geographically distributed operations for some time. Recent events have simply accelerated the process.”

The recent spotlight on the environmental efficiency of Bitcoin mining appears to be shifting the hold China had over Bitcoin’s hash rate — something that U.S.-based Bitcoin miners have been deliberately seeking to do for quite some time. This also seems likely to increase the energy efficiency of mining practices.

MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor chimed in on China's crackdown on CNN earlier today:

“I think there is a dynamic where a lot of hash power will come to the U.S. and will come to other parts of the world.”

"#Bitcoin is the greatest customer for renewable energy in the world. In the history of the world!"@michael_saylor CEO @MicroStrategy weighs in on China’s #crypto crackdown, Iran’s ban on #mining, and having happy shareholders.

PART 2 pic.twitter.com/hpxv6OaXby
— Julia Chatterley (@jchatterleyCNN) May 27, 2021

Quebec has become a Bitcoin mining hub over the past few years due to its cheap electricity prices, with reportedly “dozens” or large mining operations in the area relying on hydroelectricity.

Côté of Hydro-Québec said mining using the abundant green energy in Quebec rather than China was a big win.

“If these companies are going to be mining using renewable energy here instead of mining in China, which uses mostly coal, we can decarbonize part of that industry by having some of it here,” he added.

Sustainable Bitcoin Mining