Dennis Porter, chief executive officer of the Satoshi Action Fund, is taking the fight for hearts and minds on Bitcoin mining to Washington, D.C. and beyond in an effort to support friendly legislation. Porter, who first discovered Bitcoin (BTC) in 2017, told Cointelegraph his path on advocating the benefits of mining has taken him to support bills in at least six U.S. states with federal lawmakers also in his crosshairs. The Satoshi Action Fund CEO met with U.S. Senators and Representatives on Jan. 25 in support of proposed legislation aimed at eliminating discrimination against miners. According to Porter, the Lummis-Gillibrand …

During the winter storm in Texas in December 2022, Bitcoin (BTC) mining operators returned up to 1,500 megawatts of energy to the distressed local grid. It became possible due to the flexibility of mining operations and the ancillary services, provided by the state authorities. In his commentary to Satoshi Action Fund, Texas Blockchain Council president Lee Bratcher stated that miners returned up to 1,500 megawatts to the Texas grid. This amount of energy would be enough to heat “over 1.5 million small homes or keep 300 large hospitals fully operational,” according to the calculations from the Bitcoin advocacy group. While …

Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and the crypto market had a rough 2022 from a price perspective, but traders are hopeful that 2023 will include bullish developments that push crypto prices higher. Despite the market-wide downturn, a handful of altcoins continued to make a positive contribution to the crypto space and thanks to Ethereum, the term altcoin is no longer a derogatory term. Let’s explore the top altcoins that made a difference in 2022. Ethereum fundamentals shone in 2022 Ether’s price hit a yearly high at $3,835 on Jan. 2 and has struggled to regain footing amidst the bear market and …

Climate change has become one of the most pressing issues in the modern world with mounting pressure on companies to develop and implement climate strategies. Politicians around the globe have also been actively involved, with several nations pledging to go carbon-neutral in the next couple of decades. Amid all the initiatives and conferences led by politicians and billion-dollar companies over the years, the threat of global warming and the carbon emissions spilling into the atmosphere have only risen. The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, was the 27th United Nations climate change …

Although Bitcoin (BTC) mining remains a controversial topic, it’s becoming more common to hear how Bitcoin mining can help balance grid demand. This is being demonstrated in the state of Texas, as Bitcoin miners are able to participate in demand response programs, which incentivize miners to turn off their operations during peak demand. A spokesperson from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) — the organization that operates Texas’s electrical grid — told Cointelegraph that crypto loads can have impacts on the grid just like any large load. Yet, they noted that crypto miners can help stabilize the grid by …

The next time Bitcoin (BTC) comes under fire for energy consumption, remember this statistic. The banking industry uses at least 56 times more energy. That's according to cryptographer and founder of Valuechain, Michel Khazzaka: "I’m not saying it uses less or the same, just know it uses 56 times more than Bitcoin." The statistic, first shared by Michel Khazzaka in the summer, caused a stir in the Bitcoin and wider crypto community. He published his estimates in a Valuechain report, a company he founded to investigate the world of crypto payments. In an exclusive Cointelegraph Crypto Story interview, Khazzaka talks …

Hydro-Québec, the firm managing electricity across the Canadian province of Quebec, plans to reallocate energy supplied to crypto mining firms. According to a Nov. 3 tweet from Canadian lawmaker Pierre Fitzgibbon, the government will request a decree from the energy board to release the company from its obligation to power crypto miners in the province. Hydro-Québec allocated 270 megawatts toward the mining firms, but electricity demand in Québec is expected to grow to a point that powering crypto will put pressure on the energy supplier. The report Hydro-Québec filed with the government’s energy board on Nov. 1 said temporarily reducing …

The Merge, which is considered one of the most significant blockchain upgrades on Ethereum (ETH) to date, brought down the network’s energy consumption by 99.9% immediately. On Sept. 15, the Ethereum blockchain migrated from proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism in an effort to transition into a green blockchain. What followed was an immediate and steep drop in total energy consumption of the Ethereum network. Before the Merge upgrade, in 2022, the energy consumption of Ethereum ranged between 46.31 terawatt hour (TWh) per year to 93.98 TWh per year. The lowest energy consumption for Ethereum was recorded on …

Bitcoin (BTC) has seen a 41% increase in energy consumption Year-on-Year (YoY) despite dramatic improvements in energy efficiency and a more diverse and sustainable energy mix — but there are concerns the rise could see regulators clamp down on mining. The data comes from a Q3 2022 report by the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) which represents 51 of the world's largest Bitcoin mining companies. The report found Bitcoin mining to consume 0.16% of global energy production, slightly less than the energy consumed by computer games according to the BMC — and an amount it considered to be “an inconsequential amount …

The European Union (EU) released a package of documents Oct. 18 relating to an action plan for implementing the European Green Deal and the REPowerEU Plan, both of which are aimed at energy savings by digitalizing the energy sector. The European energy planners have cryptocurrency in their sights along with myriad other energy users. The REPowerEU Plan was announced in May as a response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has had a profound impact on European energy supplies. The Russian crisis was an opportunity for “fast forwarding the clean transition,” the European Commission said. “Controlling the energy consumption …

Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and a group of six other U.S. lawmakers have requested information from the head of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, on the energy usage and potential environmental impact of crypto miners. In an Oct. 12 letter, Senators Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Edward Markey as well as House of Representatives members Al Green, Katie Porter, Jared Huffman, and Rashida Tlaib requested ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas provide details on the impact Texas crypto mining firms have had on the stability of the state’s energy grid, climate change, and subsidies given to companies. According to the …

The Bitcoin (BTC) bashing has continued unabated even in the depths of a bear market with more research questioning its energy usage and impact on the environment. The latest paper by researchers at the department of economics at the University of New Mexico, published on Sept. 29, alleges that from a climate-damage perspective, Bitcoin operates more like “digital crude” than “digital gold.” The research attempts to estimate the energy-related climate damage caused by proof-of-work Bitcoin mining and make comparisons to other industries. It alleges that between 2016 and 2021, on average each $1 in BTC market value created was responsible …