Bitcoin Mining Council Boosts Sustainable Practices; Controls 43.4% of Global Mining

BMC’s Pioneering Green Revolution in Bitcoin Mining

As blockchain technology and its applications, such as Bitcoin, witness unprecedented growth, the dialogue around their energy consumption intensifies. Enters the Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC), which has been instrumental in pivoting this conversation towards environmental responsibility. The recent survey findings from the first half of 2023 shed light on this initiative, illustrating the BMC’s impactful contributions to sustainability and technological advancement.

In 2023’s first half, the BMC has demonstrated a formidable 70% year-on-year growth in hash rate – a measure of a computer’s performance or speed in cryptocurrency mining. Starting the year 2022 with a hash rate of 24 EH, this figure skyrocketed to 158 EH by Q2 2023. Such monumental growth has propelled the BMC to account for 43.4% of the global Bitcoin Mining Network.

This council, an amalgamation of various Bitcoin mining enterprises from six different continents, doesn’t just lead in sheer numbers. They’re at the vanguard of sustainable practices too. With 63.1% of their electricity derived from renewable sources, they’ve played a pivotal role in nudging the global Bitcoin mining sustainable electricity mix to 59.9%. These figures reinforce the assertion that the Bitcoin industry is emerging as one of the most environmentally conscious sectors globally.

Efficiency and Energy Reintegration: The Two Pillars

The global Bitcoin Network isn’t just growing; it’s refining its operations. A testament to this is the 24% year-on-year growth in technological efficiency. Translating this, in H1 2022, the network utilized 21.1 EH per gigawatt (GW), which has improved to 26.1 EH per GW in H1 2023. Such metrics imply that as the Bitcoin Network burgeons, its resource optimization is also on the ascent.

Parallel to efficiency is the concept of energy reintegration. An interesting revelation from H1 2023 is the upswing in energy curtailment by the BMC. An impressive 2.5 GW of Bitcoin mining operations under BMC engaged in curtailment programs. These programs facilitate the channeling of surplus energy, amounting to 815 GWh, back to local grids during peak demand times. The majority of such energy feedback practices were observed in the US and Canada, underpinning the crucial role Bitcoin mining plays in stabilizing electricity grids.

The coalition leading these efforts comprises reputed entities like Argo Blockchain, Bitfarms, Celsius Network, Galaxy Digital, Hive Blockchain, Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain, and several others.