Small-scale hydroelectric plants in China are reportedly looking for new customers as crypto miners go abroad amid a nationwide crackdown on mining activity. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), advertisements for small-scale hydro plants with 50-megawatt capacity have surged on Chinese secondhand e-commerce platforms such as Xianyu. According to the SCMP, some sellers claimed that their listings were unrelated to the cryptocurrency mining industry, while others said that their bids came as a result of the recent crackdown on crypto mining. One seller reportedly said that small dams rely on crypto miners for a customer base because they …

Chinese authorities continue to crack down on cryptocurrency mining as a city in Sichuan province has reportedly halted local Bitcoin (BTC) mining farms. Authorities in Ya’an City, a prefecture-level city in the western part of Sichuan province, have ordered local Bitcoin mining operations to shut down for examination, Chinese financial publication Sina Finance reported Friday. Citing an anonymous source from Chinese news agency PA News, the report said that it is unclear when or whether miners will restart mining operations. According to Chinese crypto blogger Colin Wu, the latest decision will impact major Bitcoin mining farms in Sichuan, which is …

The recent crackdown on crypto mining in China has seen concerns expressed over the potential impact a hashrate migration could have on Texas’ unreliable electricity market, as an increasing number of dislocated miners eye the Lone Star State. Texas’ abundant sources of renewable energy and highly deregulated power grid make the state an obvious choice for migrating miners from China and elsewhere, with 20% of Texan electricity being generated by wind as of 2019. Speaking to CNBC, Brandon Arvanaghi, a former security engineer at crypto exchange Gemini, predicted Texas will see “a dramatic shift over the next few months” as …

Institutional investors have been showing a stronger appetite for a carbon-neutral Bitcoin (BTC) investment solution by One River Digital Asset Management. One River Digital, a crypto-focused hedge fund offering exposure to Bitcoin and Ether (ETH), announced Wednesday that an overwhelming majority of assets in its institutional Bitcoin fund have chosen to switch to One River’s new carbon-neutrality share class. In April, the company introduced a new system that calculates the carbon cost of Bitcoin mining and buys tokenized carbon credits in order to offset the environmental impact. Based on the estimated carbon emitted per one BTC and the market price …

The recent crackdown on Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto mining in Iran has reached a new dimension, with the government banning the activity over the summer. According to a report by Bloomberg, President Hassan Rouhani announced the blanket ban on Bitcoin mining in the country in an address on state television on Wednesday. The nationwide prohibition will reportedly last until September, with the government keen on ensuring access to electricity for domestic consumption during the hot summer months, which are historically peak periods for power demand. As part of his address, President Rouhani alleged that the majority of the crypto mining …

The Iranian government continues to closely monitor the cryptocurrency mining industry by initiating new measures against home crypto miners, according to a new report. Mostafa Rajabi, a spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Energy, said that crypto mining with household electricity is not legal and, thus, home miners will have to pay heavy fines if discovered, local news agency The Tehran Times reported Sunday. Crypto miners using household energy will be also required to provide compensation for potential damages caused to the electricity network, the official stated. Rajabi said that the government has undertaken these measures in order to get a …

After four months of closure, Iran’s largest Bitcoin mining facility is set to resume its operations. According to a report by IranWire, the decision to restart operations at the Bitcoin mining farm was due to massive financing put up by Chinese backers. Located in Rafsanjan, a city in the Kerman Province of southeast Iran, the Bitcoin (BTC) mining farm was at the center of controversy earlier in 2021. Back in January, the authorities in the province ordered the closure of the mining hub amid sweeping electricity blackouts in Iran. Indeed, the Rafsanjan Bitcoin mining center reportedly consumes 175 megawatt-hour of …

Asahi’s Australian lager beer subsidiary Victoria Bitter has taken a step toward sustainability by allowing customers to earn a pint with solar energy via blockchain. According to a Wednesday announcement, Victoria Bitter has partnered with major blockchain energy firm Power Ledger to unlock a new program allowing participants to exchange excess solar energy for slabs of beer. “The only thing better than drinking the Big Cold Beer in the Aussie sun is earning beer while you do it. Plus it’s a real win-win for beer lovers and the environment,” Victoria Bitter’s general manager of marketing Brian Phan said. The new …

The majority of Bitcoin (BTC) is mined outside of the United States using “dirty energy,” Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has claimed. Suarez discussed the environmental implications of Bitcoin mining in a March 26 episode of the Unconfirmed podcast with cryptocurrency journalist Laura Shin. The mayor said that the U.S. should mine more Bitcoin for to national security reasons. “A part of the problem with Bitcoin is 90% of it is not done in the United States. 90% of it is done in countries that have dirty energy. So that’s the reason why it’s considered to be a dirty activity,” Suarez …

Allocating capital to Bitcoin risks a backlash from environmentally conscious investors, according to author and co-anchor of CNBC's Squawk Box, Andrew Ross Sorkin. In a piece for the International New York Times, syndicated worldwide, Sorkin pointed to statements by Lawrence Fink, CEO of Black Rock — the largest asset managers in the world — indicating his company would make all future investment decisions based on “how they plan to meet the climate challenge.” Tesla’s $TSLA recent bet on bitcoin sullies its green credentials. Mining and transacting the cryptocurrency requires huge amounts of computing power and electricity, much of it from …

Automobile makers everywhere are betting big on electric vehicles as the world begins to push for environmentally friendly modes of transportation. For example, while fewer than 1% of cars on the roads in the United States today are electric, a number of automobile manufacturers are aiming to change this by stopping sales of gasoline-powered cars. At the end of January 2021, General Motors said it would stop selling gas-powered cars and trucks by 2035. In addition, automakers such as Tesla, Ford, Volkswagen and even Porsche have announced plans to introduce new electric models in the coming years. At the same …

Lawmakers in Kentucky are looking to impose tax breaks for local cryptocurrency miners. Kentucky lawmakers on Tuesday approved several state tax breaks including House Bill 230, which would remove the sales tax from electricity purchased by local crypto mining operators. According to a report by the Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky legislators voted 19 to two for the new measure. The bill’s fiscal note is reportedly estimated to cost the local budget at least $1 million annually. The exact cost cannot be calculated so far because “it is unknown how many of the businesses might choose to locate here to avail themselves …