In response to Elon Musk’s mining mess, Michael Saylor brought the largest mining companies in the United States to one table. This has resulted in an interest group that is supposed to lead the mining industry into a clean future. Elon Musk is cautiously optimistic.
It’s been less than two weeks since Elon Musk publicly distanced himself from Bitcoin because of the climate-damaging consequences of mining and stopped making payments with cryptocurrencies at Tesla. A lot has happened in that short period of time. The criticism triggered an avalanche in the crypto market that left no stone unturned. Bitcoin has since fallen 33 percent in value, total market capitalization has plunged $ 800 billion, and the image of the crypto reserve currency has been scratched by Musk’s scolding. The tablecloth seemed cut up between the car manufacturer and the mining industry. Until MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor stepped in as a mediator and brought the parties to the dispute around one table. The result: the establishment of a “Bitcoin Mining Council” that wants to strictly regulate North American crypto mining according to environmental requirements.
A clean future for Bitcoin mining
Saylor apparently let his contacts play and united the US heavyweights in mining: Argo Blockchain, Blockcap, Core Scientific, Galaxy Digital, Hive Blockchain, Hut 8 Mining, Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain. They all “agreed to set up the Bitcoin Mining Council to promote transparency of energy consumption and accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide,” said Saylor in one Tweet.
The aim of the industry association is therefore to standardize sustainable energy management that documents the use of renewable energies, as well as providing information on the market and ensuring compliance with ESG criteria (environmental, social, governance). What specific tasks will be assigned to the lobby association and who will monitor compliance with the guidelines is still open. The companies have not yet issued a joint statement.
Musk: “Potentially Promising”
Elon Musk was cautiously optimistic. By Twitter – where else – he rated the merger of the interest group as “potentially promising”. The council also seems to be bearing its first fruits. Marathon Digital Holdings announced yesterday in a joint Press release announced the construction of a 300-megawatt data center in Texas with Compute North, which would be 70 percent carbon neutral by the end of the first quarter of 2022. Marathon will host 73,000 Bitcoin miners in it. The long-term goal would be to “achieve a 100 percent carbon-neutral footprint,” says the averaging.
Although the initiative is a step in the right direction to organize mining more cleanly, at least in North American latitudes, the Bitcoin Mining Council is also an end in itself. After all, political pressure has risen sharply in recent weeks. The New York Senate has passed a bill that requires a three-year moratorium on mining facilities in the state that do not meet environmental regulations. With the Council, the companies are taking the wind out of the sails of stricter regulations that are also threatening in other federal states.
The big hit or just a fraudulent label?
So the council has to put up with an accusation of greenwashing. It is questionable whether the miners would have acted without political pressure and Musk’s scolding. After all, they had enough time to rearrange their systems. It is also unclear how responsibilities are distributed within the organizations and whether there are independent control bodies. It is doubtful that companies would pat themselves on the fingers when they commit offenses.
In any case, the attempt at rehabilitation of Bitcoin Mining did not fail to have one effect. BTC rate rose $ 2,500 shortly after it was announced. From its rise above the 40,000 mark, the cryptocurrency has moved away a little. Nevertheless, the refurbishment of the mining image should benefit course performance. The reaction to the Bitcoin cancellation by Musk has shown that the climate issue is becoming increasingly important in the crypto ecosystem.