The constant challenges facing cryptocurrency mining companies within China persist in providing unending opportunities for those in the United States, with politicians now more than ever shifting their focus to the growing sector.
In the recent Texas Blockchain Summit, Ted Cruz stated the colossal amount of renewable energy generated in the south-central region in the U.S. Texas was an excellent chance for Bitcoin miners to profit from.
“Texas has plenty of energy. Fifty per cent of the natural gas in the United States that is being flared will be flared up in the Permian at the moment located in West Texas. I believe that this is a huge chance for Bitcoin because right now, it will be energy wasted”.
Texas is responsible for 47% of the national flared gas, which comes primarily out of the Permian basin, which is an oil – and gas-rich sedimentary basin located in the western region of Texas. It is the biggest producing region of petroleum within the U.S. and accounts for around 75 trillion cubic meters of gas, an enormous part of which is disposed of as the waste stream.
Cruz added that this energy surplus could be used to provide power to Bitcoin mining, as mining using gas that has been flared is much more profitable than the process of capturing it, particularly in cases where pipelines aren’t readily available.
The politician also disagreed with the notion that Bitcoin is a user of energy that is harmful to the environment. He claimed that, in actual the cryptocurrency had a considerable chance to unlock stranded renewables. With a large portion of the earth constantly exposed to sunlight and wind despite the absence of powerlines, Cruz sees this massive potential to be realized in about five years by the use of renewable energy sources to enable cryptocurrency mining.
The U.S. dominating a third of the global hash rates, Texas has already become one of the most mining states and is second only to New York. The reason for this is the low cost of its large grid, affluent policymakers, and significant natural gas stranded and flared and a deregulated grid that has real-time spot prices, the excess of renewable energy, and the breakthrough of mining by immersion that reduces the risk of overheating.
