Texas Is Still a Crypto Mining King

Texas became a serious crypto mining hub about two years ago, and it looks like things are set to stay this way for some time. Despite a wide array of headwinds and problems the industry has been facing, Texas crypto mining has remained quite steady, and the Lone Star State is still being sought out by new companies and facilities.

Texas Is Still the High-Ranking Crypto Mining Official

Texas became a serious region for crypto mining beginning in the summer of 2021. The state attracted a lot of miners from China who were suddenly facing an oppressive regime out of Beijing that said they either had to move out completely or end their mining operations overnight. The idea was that China wanted to be more carbon neutral, a decision that put a nation that was once responsible for about 65 to 75 percent of the world’s overall mining projects out of commission.

Texas seemed like a good area given it offered vast open land and cheap electricity. The area saw a huge burst of activity following China’s ruling and it’s remained in a positive place since.

In a recent interview, Lee Bratcher – president of the industry group Texas Blockchain Council – said that the mining industry in Texas has not been without its issues, and the space has been occasionally bogged down with problems that have put the future of the mining sector in jeopardy. He commented:

There’s been some challenges with the bitcoin mining industry.

Among the issues he’s referring to are bankruptcies, which were rather prominent in 2022 given how bearish the year was. Bitcoin, for example, dropped from its November 2021 all-time high of about $68,000 per unit and fell into the mid-$16K range by the end of the year. This caused many mining companies and other crypto firms centered around BTC to have to enter bankruptcy proceedings and shutter their doors.

According to Matt Prusak – chief commercial officer at crypto miner U.S. Bitcoin Corp – one of the biggest issues facing the crypto mining space is how much flak it gets for its energy usage, and several reports have been published documenting this in the past. He said:

Bitcoin mining is a very energy intensive business, which is why we tend to find places like West Texas to be full of bitcoin miners.

So Much Energy Use!

Joshua Rhodes – a research scientist at the University of Texas at Austin – also threw his two cents into the mix, commenting:

There are a lot of bitcoin mines that are trying to connect to the system. If all of them were to connect in the timelines that they are looking to connect, then it probably would present an issue to the grid because that load would be growing way faster than it ever has before.

Tags: china, Crypto Mining, Texas