As Bitcoin (BTC) shows a minor bull run, the connected sub-ecosystems’ year-long struggle for survival has started to pay off. For starters, the Bitcoin mining community experienced a 50% increase in revenue — through mining rewards and transaction fees — in the first month of 2023.
On Dec. 28, 2022, Bitcoin mining revenue dipped to $13.6 million for the first time since October 2020. This, coupled with rising energy prices amid geopolitical tensions, imposed tremendous financial pressure on the companies running mining operations – forcing a few to shut shop.
As Bitcoin remains well-positioned for a steady recovery, the mining industry witnessed a 50% growth in revenue in terms of US dollars, as shown below.
Bitcoin mining revenue jumped from $15.3 million on Jan. 1 to nearly $23 million in the span of 30 days.
As more miners join to power and secure the decentralized Bitcoin network, the hash rate continues to attain new all-time highs. At the time of writing, the Bitcoin hash rate stood at around the 300 exahashes per second (EH/s) mark.
Related: Bitcoin stays out of fear for 11 straight days as price tips near 24K
One of the biggest criticism of Bitcoin remains the high energy requirement for running the proof-of-work consensus mechanism. In October 2022, Cointelegraph reported that Bitcoin witnessed a 41% increase in energy consumption year-on-year (YoY).
However, a drive for sourcing greener energy to power Bitcoin mining facilities aims to solve the predicament. Most recently, a mining company tapped into a source of stranded energy in Malawi, a landlocked country in southeastern Africa.
1600 families connected to this remote hydro minigrid in the mountains of southern Malawi. They have 50kW of stranded energy that we are testing out as a new Bitcoin mining site.
— Gridless (@GridlessCompute) January 21, 2023
Videos for context.
Still working on venting, wiring, etc. pic.twitter.com/Sxf8ABGPWH
As Cointelegraph reported, the project — undertaken by Gridless — uses 50 kilowatts (kW) of stranded energy to test out as a new Bitcoin mining site.
Speaking about the overall impact of the initiative, Erik Hersman, CEO and co-founder of Gridless stated, “The power developer had built these powerhouses a few years ago, but they weren’t able to expand to more families because they’re barely profitable and couldn’t afford to buy more meters to connect more families. So, our deal allowed for them to immediately buy 200 more meters to connect more families.”
In addition, the environmental footprint of the Bitcoin mining facility is low as it runs purely off a river-based hydro powe.