US Democrats Seek More Information About Federal Crypto Mining Data Collection

America’s Democrats have actively followed most of the cryptocurrency’s major events and activities. Legislators’ interests cross several crypto aspects, such as regulations and controls, operation, functionality and energy use.

Mining of digital assets has raised many controversies regarding the environmental threat through pollution and high energy consumption. In a new development, some Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren, are now demanding more information from agencies about crypto energy use in mining.

Lawmakers wrote to DOE and EPA

Elizabeth Warren and seven other lawmakers recently wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. In the letter, they asked for details on the impact of digital asset mining and energy use on the environment.

Senators Edward Markey, Sheldon Whitehouse and Jeff Merkley wrote the letter, with participation from Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Jared Huffman, Richard Durbin and Katie Porter. Sen. Banking Committee member Elizabeth Warren led Democrats in writing asking the agencies to respond by March 6.

The lawmakers admitted some responses they previously received from the official correspondence regarding data collection on energy consumption from mining digital assets. Furthermore, they stated that their current demands are just a follow-up to the previous ones.

They want to know the details and the practical process of the agencies’ data collection and how they use the information they receive. So the legislators ask a series of questions that are relevant to practical issues.

One of the issues raised by the Democrats was that the climate crisis is being exacerbated by the growing crypto mining in the country. So they see the need for mandatory and comprehensive data collection on digital asset activities.

Furthermore, they demanded that the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) put more effort into their work to ensure that they bridge the era of information scarcity. From now on, it has become mandatory for the two agencies to collect timely information from crypto miners about emissions and energy use in mining.

In addition, the letter asked the Department of Energy for details on the Energy Star program. It also raised the issue of technical assistance for communities interested in hosting crypto miners, which the department handles.

One of the letter’s authors, Rep. Jared Huffman, posted the growing concern about contamination through digital asset mining on Twitter. This prompted the lawmakers to call on the agencies to ensure that digital asset miners maintain transparency in their reports.

Crypto mining and environmental impact

Mining of digital assets is essential for protocols running with the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. It allows miners to create new blocks on blockchains and helps maintain the network’s stability and security.

However, the mining process requires special computational equipment to solve cryptographic puzzles. Such machines use a lot of energy throughout the entire operating period.

While miners are trying to cut their electricity costs, most were using fossil fuels, which posed environmental pollution threats through high carbon emissions.

The high energy consumption and environmental impact of crypto mining have been major concerns in most jurisdictions. In 2021, China cracked down on crypto mining and declared all transactions involving digital assets illegal.

But with the increasing use of digital assets, most countries like the US are seeking it control emissions and energy use from crypto mining rather than an outright ban.

Featured image from Pixabayl ELG21 chart from TradingView.com