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- 1 Bitcoin was trading at $37,700 at press time, gaining 0.03 percent in a day.
- 2 The next halving is scheduled to happen in April 2024.
Only a few months remain until the next Bitcoin (BTC) halving. Crypto miners are preparing for the event to make the most out of it. During an event organized by financial news website Benzinga, dubbed Future of Digital Assets, industry leaders spoke about how they are strategizing for it.
Reliable Power is Key
Co-founder of SATO Technologies, Romain Nouzareth, explained that the company is converting unused energy for their operations. Some findings by research university Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a Big Four accounting company KPMG show Bitcoin mining may help in reducing carbon emissions via unused energy.
BTC is accountable for a majority of global mining hashrate currently. Bitfarms’ senior VP of corporate development Philippe Fortier echoed this sentiment. Emphasizing the use of sustainable energy resources, he said, “Access to stable, relatively cheap, and reliable power is key.” Crypto mining is deemed an energy-intensive process that can harm the atmosphere if power is generated via fossil fuels.
Halving remained the focal point among the panelists. Mining rewards are slashed in half during the event. Since its inception, BTC has seen three halvings. Initially, users were eligible to receive 50 Bitcoins for every block mined. Currently, it has come to 6.25 BTC.
On November 19, 2023, miners’ revenue hit its all-time high, surpassing $46 MIllion. The increase in revenue was partially associated with the rally in BTC price at that time. The cryptocurrency was trading at $37,700 at press time, gaining almost 3.5 percent in a week. Additionally, the asset accounts for half the market capitalization currently.
“The halving reduces the total revenue for Bitcoin miners, making efficiency and good management crucial,” believes Bitdeer Technologies’ Haris Basit. The current mining setup is not likely to do justice to crypto miners after halving. They would be coerced into either upgrading their current machines or adding new ones to their fleet.
Many believe Bitcoin will rise in value. However, a close observation will straightforwardly deny this fact. There’s no significant development in price around halving events. Although it showed positive momentum following its last halving in May 2020, it was not until October when BTC finally exploded to the price ranges it usually trades in today.
As the race to mine BTC gets tougher, it could enhance the environmental debate in association with crypto mining. Data shows the flagship asset’s annual energy consumption can power a whole nation like Switzerland. Additionally, electronic waste (e-waste) generated from crypto mining is a less debated aspect.
Data shows e-waste generated from Bitcoin reaches 76 kilotons annually. According to the World Bank, an international body focused on public health, “Once in the environment, toxic pollutants from e-waste or produced through unsound recycling activities can travel significant distances from the point of pollution, exposing people in faraway areas to health-damaging substances.”
Steefan George is a crypto and blockchain enthusiast, with a remarkable grasp on market and technology. Having a graduate degree in computer science and an MBA in BFSI, he is an excellent technology writer at The Coin Republic. He is passionate about getting a billion of the human population onto Web3. His principle is to write like “explaining to a 6-year old”, so that a layman can learn the potential of, and get benefitted from this revolutionary technology.
