Fun

Central Washington Raises Concerns Over Possible Bitcoin Mining Boom

News Feed - 2021-01-12 08:01:34

Central Washington Raises Concerns Over Possible Bitcoin Mining Boom


A region in the Pacific Northwest of the United States is on high alert because of concerns about a possible invasion of bitcoin (BTC) miners. The state has previously experienced an influx of Chinese bitcoin miners, due to decreasing electricity prices. Bitcoin Bull-Run Could Revive Interest in Mining, Officials Warn


Per the Seattle Times, bitcoin’s bull-run is putting the public utility districts (PUD) in Central Washington on high alert, monitoring for suspiciously high power bills. PUD officials claim crypto miners from China have come to the region to take advantage of its low hydroelectricity prices.


Such developments worry the Columbia River Basin authorities because the “2017-2018 mining boom could happen again.” Although electricity prices have been increased to combat mining, authorities believe new bitcoin miners could still establish themselves in the state.


So far the authorities haven’t seen an increase in commercial mining, however, the PUDs still brace for a return of “small-scale mines” that could overload local residential power lines.


John Stoll, managing director of customer utilities at Chelan County’s PUD, commented on the matter: We haven’t seen that, but definitely we are keeping our radar up.


PUDs Are Not Willing to Welcome New Bitcoin Miners


Stoll says he doesn’t let his guard down, keeping an eye on market volatility: The biggest concern we have is somebody coming in, we build 50 megawatts’ worth of capacity for them, bitcoin prices change, and then they just leave.


Seattle Times quotes one of the measures taken by Grant County, where costs for bitcoin miners will be increased if the outlet meets this specific criterion: it’s using 5% or more of the district’s power.


But building new mining facilities is not the only headache that PUDs are facing. The districts’ officials believe small-size bitcoin miners could restart operations from currently inactive facilities.


The U.S. East Coast is also witnessing its own bitcoin mining-related controversy. On December 20, 2020, organizations led by an environmental organization filed a lawsuit against the U.S. town Torrey in New York for giving the green light to expand a bitcoin mining facility at the Greenidge Generation power plant.


What do you think about Central Washington’s concerns? Let us know in the comments section below. Russian Oil Giant Provides Excess Gas to Operations Powering Bitcoin Mining Devices MINING | 2 days ago Canaan Launches Submerged Liquid-Cooled Bitcoin Miner, Noiseless Device Boasts 50 Terahash MINING | 6 days ago Tags in this story Bitcoin mining, Bitcoin Mining Costs, cheap electricity, consuming electricity, crypto mining, United States, Washington State


Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons Use Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to play online casino games here. Show comments

News Feed

Peter Schiff questions Bitcoin ETF demand and $100K BTC price target
Prashant Jha13 hours agoPeter Schiff questions Bitcoin ETF demand and $100K BTC price targetSchiff cited a downturn in the price of Bitcoin-linked equity markets without specifying a time frame for his shared data.20578
Is Tesla buying Bitcoin again? BTC wallet data sparks curiosity
Prashant Jha13 hours agoIs Tesla buying Bitcoin again? BTC wallet data sparks curiositySome users speculated that Tesla might be buying Bitcoin and could reveal it during its next earnings call, while others believe it c
Bank of Zambia Expects to Complete CBDC Study in Q4
Bank of Zambia Expects to Complete CBDC Study in Q4 The Bank of Zambia has said it expects to complete its study seeking to determine the feasibility of launching a Central Bank Di
Derek Andersen4 hours agoZimbabwe central bank close to introducing gold-backed digital tokens into retailPhysical and digital gold tokens have been a big success as investments and an inflation hedge in Zimbabwe, which
SEC Fines John McAfee’s Associate $375K in Penalties for ICO Promotions
SEC Fines John McAfee"s Associate $375K in Penalties for ICO Promotions According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) judgment, Jimmy Gale Watson, a former associate of t
Examining the Holdings of 5 Centralized Crypto Exchanges: A Look at Binance, Okx, Crypto.com, Bitfinex, and Huobi
Examining the Holdings of 5 Centralized Crypto Exchanges: A Look at Binance, Okx, Crypto.com, Bitfinex, and Huobi After FTX collapsed, the incident prompted many major crypto excha
EtherMail Offers a Lifeline to Web3 Projects Stranded by MailChimp
EtherMail Offers a Lifeline to Web3 Projects Stranded by MailChimp press release PRESS RELEASE.MailChimp’s recent decision to suspend newsletter services for crypto businesse
Derek Andersen5 hours agoChinese, Indian investment professionals show strong support for CBDC in new surveyThe CFA Institute asked members around the world how they felt about CBDCs. Their responses might surprise the c
Turner Wright7 hours agoAdvocacy groups push back against Sen. Warren linking crypto with terrorismThe Blockchain Association and Crypto Council for Innovation said Hamas had reportedly stopped using Bitcoin, as authorit
Can Dogecoin Price Reach $1 By Year End? Here’s What The Fibonacci Levels Say
Este artículo también está disponible en español. So far, the $1 target has been a psychological level that market participants expect the Dogecoin price to reach in this
Billionaire Mark Cuban Warns of Next Crypto Implosion Coming From Wash Trades
Billionaire Mark Cuban Warns of Next Crypto Implosion Coming From Wash Trades Mark Cuban, a Shark Tank star and the owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has warned that the next
Bitcoin Miner Genesis Digital Assets Secured 708 MW in Capacity During the First Half of 2022
Bitcoin Miner Genesis Digital Assets Secured 708 MW in Capacity During the First Half of 2022 This week the bitcoin mining company Genesis Digital Assets announced that the firm ha