A group of Congress members has raised concerns about high energy usage by six cryptomining companies.
The lawmakers sent a letter to Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital Holdings, Stronghold Digital Mining, Bitdeer, Bitfury Group, and Bit Digital seeking information on their cryptomining operations and related energy consumption. The Congress members point out that Bitcoin mining’s power consumption has more than tripled from 2019 to 2021, rivaling the energy consumption of entire countries like Denmark, Chile, and Argentina.
“The extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining could undermine our hard work to tackle the climate crisis – not to mention the harmful impacts cryptomining has on local environments and electricity prices. We need more information on the operations of these cryptomining companies to understand the full scope of the consequences for our environment and local communities,” U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said.
Warren sent the joint letter with U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Ri), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and Edward Markey (D-MA), and Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Jared Huffman (D-CA).
Bitcoin is the world’s largest cryptocurrency, and the U.S. share of Bitcoin mining increased from 4 percent in August 2019 to 35 percent in July 2021. Following China’s crackdown on cryptomining, which left 500,000 mining operations looking for new locations, it could push the percentage higher in North America.
The lawmakers said the high energy use raises alarms about massive carbon emissions and the impact this consumption may have on consumer energy prices. They cited a recent study that estimated that cryptomining in upstate New York raised annual electric bills by about $165 million for small businesses and $79 million for consumers.
In the letter, the Congress members asked each company to detail their electricity consumption, scaling plans, agreements with electricity companies, and impact on energy costs for consumers and small businesses. They seek responses by Feb. 10.