A lot has happened in the Bitcoin space, from mining crackdowns to new all-time highs to market crashes. Out of all of these have come some very interesting takes on how Bitcoin and crypto, in general, are affecting the day-to-day lives of individuals. One of these has been the energy consumption associated with bitcoin mining. This concern has grown to the point where countries have moved quickly to regulate mining.
One of the most prominent and impactful crackdowns has been the China mining crackdown. Once the mining capital of the world, the region had forced bitcoin miners out of the closest thing to a natural habitat. What followed was the move of miners to countries like the United States.
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Texas was one of the states that welcomed these miners with open arms. The state offered incentives to attract these miners by way of favorable mining laws. Another thing is the Texas power grid known as ERCOT has been struggling for a while and Senator Ted Cruz believes that Bitcoin miners will solve this issue.
Bitcoin Mining Will Help Texas
Texas has been having problems with its power grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, (ERCOT). As it stands, the grid has been experiencing problems as some parts of the state have experienced blackouts. This has been mainly related to the power grid’s inability to maintain an acceptable balance between supply and demand. The problem has arisen with the power grid not having enough demand to balance supply. This is where bitcoin comes in.
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Crypto miners all around the state have proposed that bitcoin mining may very well help the Texas power problem. It is a known fact that crypto mining sucks up a lot of power and as such, crypto mining activities could help to provide the much-needed demand on the energy grid that would help balance it out with the supply. Bitcoin miners are willing to pay for the power, bringing revenue to ERCOT, as well as providing the consumer demand the grid requires.
Ted Cruz Agrees With Miners
The crypto space has found an unlikely ally in Republican Senator Ted Cruz. Cruz has been pretty vocal about his support for cryptocurrencies and recently agreed with miners on being a potential solution for the Texas energy problem.
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Speaking at the Texas Blockchain Summit, Senator Ted Cruz highlighted some of the advantages of bitcoin. The senator explained that the fact that bitcoin miners are able to turn their rigs on and off on demand makes them valuable in the case of a power crisis.
Cruz explained further that if there was ever a time when capacity went down due to a power shortage or crisis, then these miners could easily turn off their rigs to instantaneously put power back on the grid.
Featured image from Chron.com, chart from TradingView.com