Important facts:
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According to Congressman, Bitcoin mining creates wealth concentration.
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The legislator has dispensed with data such as the use of renewable energies.
On Wednesday, March 7th, the United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a debate on bitcoin mining and the environmental impact of this activity. In this regard, a congressman sharply criticized cryptocurrency miners and stressed the need for them to report their activities.
Senator Ed Markey, representative of the Democratic Party for the state of Massachusetts, claimed that “Bitcoin is more like digital coal than digital gold” and urged cryptocurrency miners to “work smarter, not harder.”
The most important criticism from Markey to bitcoin mining had to do with “extremely energy-intensive usage” that is “harmful to the general public.” Also pointed out the “highly concentrated wealth creation” that results from this activity.
Markey had previously submitted one The invoice in which he suggests calling for “an inter-agency study on the environmental and energy impacts of crypto-active mining to assess that industry’s compliance with the Clean Air Act.”
His goal is that more is known about the energy requirements of Bitcoin mining and the impact of this industry on the environment. It’s a topic about which there isn’t enough information, according to the congressman.
The cryptocurrency industry is growing, but so is the fight for climate justice. We will hold these companies accountable.
Ed Markey, United States Senator.
Some omissions in Markey’s analysis
The US Senator’s analysis of the Bitcoin mining situation seems skewed by his anti-Bitcoin stance, or at least omits some facts that contradict his discourse.
First of all, it should be pointed out The Bitcoin mining does not waste resources but uses them to enable a decentralized and open financial system for everyone in the world. In fact, according to a report published in CriptoNoticias in 2021, this system consumes half the energy of the banking and gold industries.
Even this was explained by Senator Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, who attended the same hearing where Markey spoke:
Finance, technology, government, science and many others consume significant amounts of electricity to meet their computing needs. We should provide the tools for open competition in a free market and not allow politicians or Washington DC bureaucrats to pick winners and losers.
Pete Ricketts, United States Senator from the State of Nebraska.
On the other hand, Bitcoin miner they speak more and more to renewable energies. Recent studies have been reported in this medium that put it ahead of other industries, and even some organizations, like the Bitcoin Miners Council, confirm that more than half of the electricity consumed by mining comes from renewable sources.