May 14, 2021
Elon Musk, CEO of electric car company Tesla, halted the use of Bitcoin as a means of payment yesterday due to environmental concerns, but some of his concerns could be allayed if crypto mining becomes more efficient.
Cryptominers are moving to countries with less stringent environmental regulations and cheap electricity, leaving countries such as China responsible for the bulk of crypto mining.
Musk is right to be worried about the environmental impacts, but several of these concerns could be resolved in a few years or sooner.
As long as cryptocurrency prices are stable and profitable, hyperscale mining will become commercial and efficient.
Cipher Mining, a unit of Bitfury, recently merged with Good Works Acquisition Corp. to create an industrial-scale bitcoin mining company in the United States, particularly in Texas and Ohio. Bitfury also has crypto-mining centers in Iceland, Canada and Norway.
And if the cloud giants don’t see crypto-mining as a market, there will be specialized players.
Just as cloud engineers automate data centers for energy conservation and efficiency, crypto-miners will equate sustainability with profit margins, which will likely address Musk’s concerns in no time at all.
For more information, read the original story in ZDNet.
