Bitcoin mining: US Congress in favor of PoW
The US Congress has proposed a new law in favor of Bitcoin mining. The proposal sees that Proof-of-Work (PoW) helps to meet the energy targets and increase the country’s economy.
Bitcoin mining contributes to US economic growth: new bill proposed
The US Congress has introduced one bill that includes Bitcoin mining as an activity that promotes the country’s economic growth.
Not only that, the Proof-of-Work protocol was cited as potentially be useful in meeting US energy goals.
This is a real revelation about the importance of Bitcoin mining, which until now has been completely denigrated. Apparently though, not so much by the US Congress, who wanted to analyze its benefits and potential, to the point of supporting it with a bill.
And indeed, the text of the proposal begins in the following words:
“The House of Representatives expresses the importance of Proof-of-Work mining, used for certain cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, to the ability of the United States to meet its energy goals and grow the economy.”
Bitcoin Mining uses 0.14% of the global energy supply
In the resolution introduced by Republican official Pete Sessionsit says that mining of Bitcoin and other PoW cryptocurrencies is an important process that allows a blockchain network to remain reliable, open and decentralized.
It goes on to state that although Proof-of-Work requires energy consumption for this validation process, many of the concerns are unwarranted because it the energy consumption of PoW mining is transparent and verifiable.
In this regard, here is a damning fact expressed in the bill about Bitcoin mining and its energy impact:
“[the practice] consumes 0.14% of the global energy supply.”
As such, cryptocurrency mining improves the overall financial viability of renewable energy projects because of its ability to exploit the surplus supply.
In other words, the bill wants to emphasize the efforts of Bitcoin and crypto PoW-based farms to be environmentally conscious. In this way, the resolution envisages that methane emissions can be reduced by using stranded or wasted methane as a fuel source.
The energy problem and faulty reasoning
Last summer, research from BanklessTimes had claimed that Bitcoin mining could raise global temperatures by 2 degrees by 2040however one projection error came out clearly in the justification.
In fact, this conclusion was reached based on the calculation that on average, each single Bitcoin transaction produces approximately 841 kilograms of CO2and this number will increase in the future in case of increased BTC adoption.
This statement is a misinterpretation of the energy consumption of BTC mining, which in fact is not dependent on the number of transactions. What it depends on is exclusive on the convenience that miners have in consuming which is actually bound to decrease over time.
Not only that, it Co2 emissions related to Bitcoin mining and crypto PoW, depends on which energy source is chosen for the activity, and it is fossil fuel. In this regard, the same research stated that 57% of the energy used for BTC mining comes from renewable sources which therefore emits almost zero CO2.
The current bill in the US Congress is a testimony to that the energy problem associated with Bitcoin mining might be solved very soon and globally.
