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Author: daniel kuhn; compile: Deng Tong, Bit chain vision world
The US Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting more in -depth investigations in Bitcoin (BTC) mining.Does this cause alert?
More specifically, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), that is, the statistical institutions under DOE, will investigate in the next six months to review the use of mines in the United States. This move will release a “emergency next weekAfter the data collection request “is carried out.
In view of the wording of the “emergency” command and the current government’s critical attitude towards cryptocurrencies, many people worry that the collected information will be used to formulate policies that may have a harmful impact on mining.In its public documents, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) mentioned the reason why “public hazards” that may occur from cryptocurrency mining as the reason for collecting data.
“EIA is a policy -neutral institution. It does not formulate policies, does not implement policies, nor does not comment on policies.” EIA spokesman Morgan Butterfield said in an email responding to CoinDesk.“The results of the data we collected will help form our way forward on the issue of regular review within the next six months in the next three years.”
However, neutral policy does not necessarily mean that this survey will not affect the policy.There are enough reasons to believe,Through this survey, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) is exploring the greater purpose of Bitcoin and whether it is beneficial to society, and may already have the answer.
For example, the legitimate reason for the emergency command is approved by the management and budget office.Bitcoin rose more than 50%in a few months, and EIA said that this will “inspire more encryption mining activities and increase power consumption.”
“In view of the emerging and rapid changes in this problem, and because we cannot quantitatively evaluate public hazards, EIA feels that it is necessary to obtain reliable data to understand the problem of this development.” It said.Bartfield said 82 companies operating about 150 facilities were selected as representatives of the national “cryptocurrency company”.
The agency pointed out the severe cold weather suffered by Plattsburg in 2018 to prove that cryptocurrencies are reasonable to the public.The report wrote:“The increase in the increase in cryptocurrency mining and the comprehensive impact of the tension of power systems increase the uncertainty of the power market, which may lead to the peak of demand, which will affect system operation and consumer prices.”
Since then, New York State has adopted a two -year suspension of newly opened new encrypted mining facilities, unless they are fully powered by renewable energy.Texas also tried to slow down the development of mining.Dexus’s cryptocurrency miners directly cooperate with state -owned power grid operators, and they are paid at the peak period or network pressure time disconnection.
The public version of the survey shows that EIA is asking the mining company to ask the mining company quite routine issues, including the number and type of chip they run, the power consumption of facilities, and the power directly used for mining.
In a statement, the agency stated: “We will pay special attention to how the energy demand for cryptocurrency mining evolves, determine the high -growth geographical area, and quantify the power source for the need for cryptocurrency mining demand.” The report will be at this time.The last Friday deadline of the month may be updated until the end of July.
In addition, there is another point of view that having such advanced statistics will benefit the country and industry because it has more detailed information.
At present, the best data for mining footprints comes from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electric Consumption Index. This index is inferred from the current computing power, and the hypothesis of the daily energy consumption of the bitcoin network is estimated by the Bitcoin network.
But you will definitely ask, why are you investigating now?Why is the recent rise in Bitcoin prices leading to emergency situations, while other situations are not?It is worth noting,The Biden government gives priority to reducing the country’s carbon footprints.Senator Elizabeth Vallen (Massachusetts Democrat) who criticized cryptocurrencies (Massachusetts Democrats) asked federal regulators to disclose cryptocurrency miners to disclose their emissions and energy usage.
Before the halving incident, Bitcoin mining may become a hot topic for media disputes.It is unclear how to affect the mining industry, except that the mining equipment with lower efficiency cannot be used in the short term.Some people expect cryptocurrencies to increase their carbon footprints in the next few years, while others think it will shrink.
In addition, in recent months, the public Bitcoin’s environmental cost has been reflected, especially after the second largest network Ethereum has reduced its energy consumption by 99% through a upgrade.Although some organizations such as Green Peace Organization are promoting Bitcoin to abandon the energy -intensive mining industry, some organizations have begun to regard the industry as the gospel of environmentalism.
For example,Cambridge has recently lowered the estimation of Bitcoin’s annual energy usage. MIT and Pemwoma and other institutions have also released reports that the network can help “balance” power grids, subsidies to renewable energy development, and help the green economy.
Mining is an energy -intensive industry -the workload proof (POW) operated by Bitcoin operation (POW) is designed by computer scientists.) Attacking through the server, it is usually carried out in the form of computer processing time that solves mathematics problems.
Some observers who oppose the mining process often describe Bitcoin mining as “waste” energy, but this is not the case -these energy sources are used as a token or a form of proof.The problem of “solving” Bitcoin miners is meaningless because they will not enrich the human knowledge system, nor will they contribute to effective things such as Folding@Home, but they are indeed valuable -protecting network security.
This is the tricky part: evaluate Bitcoin.How much is the value of bit currency?The standard response is to see the market’s valuation on itIt was about $ 42,000 when writing this article.But most of the true debate around Bitcoin’s huge energy footprint has nothing to do with the price of Bitcoin.Instead, they are centered on the cost and income of Bitcoin.
I hope I can say that EIA’s survey will help us better understand these costs and income.However, the investigation author seems to have answered their own questions, that is, whether Bitcoin constitutes risks to the public and is looking for data to support this conclusion.
