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Cryptocurrency mining is not going to go out any time soon. Demand for Bitcoin looks healthy, at least in the medium term and that means mining is still a lucrative business idea. Environmental concerns remain the biggest concern regarding mining and for the miners, rising energy costs are one of the biggest worries. In what is obviously good news, the United States came up with an innovative idea to introduce its first-ever nuclear-powered data center offering “Bitcoin mining” in mid-2023.
On January 18, World Nuclear News reported that Cumulus Data, one of the leading makers of zero-carbon data centers and a subsidiary of independent power producer Talen Energy, completed the installation of the 2.5 GW Susquehanna nuclear power station in northeast Pennsylvania.
Alex Hernandez, CEO of Cumulus Data, said, “Our flagship Cumulus Susquehanna data center campus is positioned to welcome its first tenant and commenced commercial operations this year.”
“Our mission is to solve the ‘trilemma’ which we define as the rapidly increasing consumer demand for zero-carbon, low-cost, and reliable electricity by data center customers,” he added.
To develop the Nautilus Cryptomine at the site, Talen announced a collaboration with TeraWulf, a US-based Bitcoin mining company, in 2021. Recently, TeraWulf upgraded its cryptomine “to provide 50 MW of net mining capacity to TeraWulf” in the first quarter of the year.
The unique proposition for nuclear power plants and bitcoin mining
Earlier, most of the Bitcoin mining sites were in China. In May 2021, China’s State Council banned crypto mining and trading. Presently, the top three countries by the share of Bitcoin mining sites in the world are the United States (35.4%), Kazakhstan (18.1%) and Russia (11.23%).
As per the data published by Cambridge university’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (BECI), the global Bitcoin mining network consumed 67 TWh in 2020. In the early months of 2022, the Bitcoin mining network nearly consumed more than 200 terawatt hours (TWh) which increased two times from 2020.
Bitcoin miners are looking for cheaper and relatively more energy-efficient systems for mining, amid rising energy costs. Some crypto analysts say that nuclear power could act as a clean and sustainable source of electricity for Bitcoin mining operations.
The proposition may help both sectors provide nuclear-generated electricity for the upcoming generations. Besides that, these nuclear reactors will also help the Bitcoin circulation to investors with environmental and governmental aspirations.
Vladimir Galabov, director of cloud and data center research, said, “Nuclear power has its place in supporting the data center to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.”
Bitcoin miners in North America were affected due to uncertain weather conditions
Since last week, Bitcoin miners have been facing difficulties due to weather conditions in North America. Sudden storms and power interruptions severely hampered mining activities in the nation.
At the start of the new year, the Bitcoin miners and investors booked big profits after the hashrate reached 361.20 Exahashes per second (EH/s). Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $23,054 and rose to $1.34% in the last 24 hrs.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
