What threatens the future of the mining industry?

Bitcoin: climate killer and environmental sow? Yes, at least according to some critics. Campaigns such as Greenpeace’s “Change the Code, not the Climate” rush against the first cryptocurrency, claiming Proof of Work is outdated. The associated power consumption is too high – especially in times of energy crisis.

Bitcoiners oppose it. Proof of Work is a feature and not a bug. Phil Harvey agrees. He is a believer in BTC, invested early and drives the mining industry forward. As CEO of Sabre56, a consulting company for blockchain data centers, he wants to revolutionize the energy industry. In an interview with BTC-ECHO, he reveals why bitcoin’s high power consumption is justified, how the industry can become greener and what problems threaten the mining industry in the future.

BTC-ECHO: You started your career as the youngest member of a British special forces unit. What then got you into the bitcoin mining industry?

Phil Harvey: A friend of mine told me about the technology. Bitcoin was worth a few hundred dollars back then. I put money in to see how this all works. I ended up losing everything, but that didn’t deter me – so 18 months later I invested again, this time even more seriously than before. I did some research and set up nodes. And then I thought to myself: Why shouldn’t I go to Canada and set up my own facilities – which I did.

Politicians, environmentalists and proof-of-stake advocates have sharply criticized Proof of Work (PoW). Do you think PoW has its right to still be among other consensus algorithms?

Yes, I think so. Bitcoin is the original, the first of its kind and not endorsed by anyone. The other consensus protocols all have a backer and are able to change their algorithm. What is the best solution? I dont know. Just because Proof of Work uses a lot of energy doesn’t mean it’s bad for the environment. In addition to cryptocurrencies, there are, for example, electric cars that use a lot of lithium. The damage this causes to the environment is great. No matter what industry or company you work in: you always have to pay attention to the impact on society and the environment.

Does Bitcoin’s potential – as a store of value and decentralized currency system – justify its high energy consumption?

Power consumption is justified by performance. Is there a way to reduce the load on the infrastructure? Yes. Is there a way to reduce our demand from non-renewable resources? Yes absolutely. In the mining industry we have a very rapid growth. This enables us to continuously change, to reinvent ourselves and to identify efficiencies.

When the mining industry started, the machines were normal household computers – with low hash power. But performance has increased, as has efficiency. With more computer power comes more decentralization and security. The performance will continue to increase. We are now seeing this on our mining farms: More machines take up less space, with the same energy consumption but increased computing power. It took the industrial age 50-60 years to really pick up momentum. We did that in 10 years.

Does Bitcoin mining have the potential to transform the energy industry into a greener and more carbon-friendly industry?

Yes. In Texas, crypto users are faced with stealing energy from the grid. That’s not the reality. We use energy, but not all the time. If we don’t generate revenue, the energy can be returned.

The capability of this power distribution – on such a scale – has never existed before. We’re seeing that at Sabre56 for ourselves: many of the mining facilities we’re going to build over the next few years will be combined with solar arrays or a wind farm. This allows us to produce energy on site. We can then use the energy generated from this or sell it to the grid to support the infrastructure. In this way, we create incentives for industry to become greener.

What threatens the future of the mining industry?

The processing of chips and the lack of materials will always be something that will threaten the mining industry. I don’t think access to energy will be a problem. We will see that certain areas prohibit mining. Not everyone wants a nuclear reactor in their backyard. You can’t agree with everything. Not everyone welcomes a new industry—that’s the way it works.

Thank you for the interview.

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