Here’s why miners are selling power back to the state of Texas
It’s no secret that Bitcoin miners are in trouble following Bitcoin’s record price drop, not to mention a BTC mining ban in various countries around the world. But miners aren’t throwing in the proverbial towel just yet – a Bitcoin mining company reportedly earned around $9.5 million in credits with a simple yet incredibly clever tactic: Sell electricity in Texas.
With energy costs rising and hash prices falling, this savvy move brings new hope to BTC miners around the world. And the state of Texas is also grateful: July’s unprecedented heat wave saw energy demand soar, making the state grateful to mining company BTC for selling power back to the power grid. As scorching temperatures soared past 100°F (37°C), residents turned up their aircons in a desperate bid to stave off the heat. This placed the Texas power grid under incredible pressure.
So who is the lucky company that came up with the idea of selling power back to the Texas power grid? Operating out of Colorado, Riot Blockchain run one of America’s largest crypto facilities.
They operate tens of thousands of ASIC-powered systems that run around the clock to mine BTC. According to Riot, they cut nearly 12,000 megawatt hours — enough to power more than 13,000 Texas homes for an entire month. While that doesn’t quite reach the state’s 11 million homes, 13,000 is still a staggering number of lights to turn on.
The efforts of the bitcoin mining company did not go unrewarded: they earned not only energy credits, but also a bunch of other benefits that, in total, totaled nearly $10 million. The $9.5 million they earned is roughly equivalent to around 439 Bitcoins (based on July 2022 prices).
While that would have been around 443 Bitcoins a year ago, 439 is nothing to scoff at. Given that Riot mined around $7 million worth of BTC in July this year – and earned $9.5 million – the benefits of reducing their production are obvious.
And Riot isn’t the only one making millions selling power back to the grid. In 2020, a Bitcoin miner reportedly made 700% profit by reselling electricity in Texas.
But manufacturing the money is not alone how miners stay financially afloat. Economy silver is also high on the collective agenda of BTC miners, which is why many have already joined the waitlist for the highly anticipated launch of PEGA pool.
PEGA Pool is the world’s first green mining pool, and its founders use a portion of its members’ dues to plant trees. Not only is the Bitcoin Pioneer Authority helping to offset the damage caused by Bitcoin mining emissions, but it is also helping miners save money, especially those already mining BTC using renewable energy. They will get 100% off pool fees during the BETA phase, and once PEGA Pool goes mainstream in Q1 2023, BTC miners using renewable energy will get 50% off pool fees for life. Miners who aren’t quite on the renewable bandwagon yet will still be able to make a difference knowing that the pool is planting trees with their fees.
David is a crypto enthusiast and personal finance expert. He has created numerous publications for different platforms. He loves exploring new things, and that’s how he discovered blockchain in the first place.
