‘POETIC’ RETURN TO AMERICA

He expected the shift to the United States to be temporary, saying places like Nordic countries have cheap and abundant renewable energy, as well as plenty of cold weather to cool the hot-running mining machines.

The steady increase in U.S.-based mining operations has fanned the ongoing environmental criticisms of the industry’s massive annual electricity consumption – more than what the Philippines uses in a year, according to Cambridge University data.

An ongoing backlash has been fueled by concerns the industry relies on carbon-emitting power sources that contribute to climate change.

“To think that we’re causing harm or pollution or all those things here ... the majority of our power comes out of the ERCOT grid and that profile is extremely friendly to the environment,” Harris said, referring to the Texas power network operator.

According to ERCOT’s data for 2020, about 46% of its power came from natural gas while wind and solar combined for 25% with coal at 18%.

The price miners pay for electricity is key, and a place like Texas is desirable because the market is de-regulated so companies can have more flexible terms, said Viktoriya Zotova, a business school professor at Georgetown University.

“In principle, they can buy the electricity when it’s cheaper and not buy it when it’s more expensive,” she said.

While there are obvious reasons for the crypto world’s migration, some also see a bit of poetry in mining operations coming to the United States from China.

Tabar, from miner Bit Digital, said his company has a site in Buffalo, New York, which used to be one of the country’s main manufacturing hubs but lost jobs and prosperity as production work shifted to places like China.

“There is a bit of a poetic thing going on,” he noted. “It dawned on me how this is going full circle.”