Home
News
- 1 CleanSpark, a public Bitcoin miner, is set to develop a new facility in Sandersville.
- 2 Georgia is becoming among the most preferred spots for crypto miners to set up their shops.
As Bitcoin (BTC) halving borders, crypto miners have started to make their presence visible at large. Crypto mining is infamous for its climate-hurting approach, especially among lawmakers and activists. A new research published by Greenpeace, an independent environment-focused network, talks about a new Bitcoin mine coming in Sandersville, Georgia.
Georgia Becoming Among Favorite Spots For Crypto Mining
CleanSpark, a public Bitcoin miner, is all set to develop a new facility in Sandersville. It will reportedly be the biggest facility of the company to date. The report notes that the company holds financial backing from its largest shareholders, BlackRock and Vanguard. Both the financial giants are pushing hard to get approval for Bitcoin ETFs from lawmakers.
According to data from The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, Georgia is becoming among the preferred spots for crypto miners to set up their shops. The state was accountable for 31 percent of the entire BTC production in the United States. Around 35 percent of the global BTC hash rate is produced in the country.
Crypto mining can be an energy-intensive process given that it needs to power hundreds or even thousands of computers at the same time. Moreover, it also decides if the process is either eco-friendly or not. If the energy is drawn from fossil fuels, it can add more carbon to the atmosphere. Meanwhile, renewable power is a cleaner option.
The crypto miner claims to keep its operations sustainable through renewable energy. According to a press release, the company harnesses over 90 percent of power from non-carbon sources like nuclear energy. Around 6 percent of their energy mix consists of carbon-based power.
However, the Greenpeace study sheds light on data that tells the opposite. The energy mix of electric utility company Georgia Power, from whom CleanSpark draws energy in Georgia, consists of “47% gas and oil, 16% coal, 24% nuclear, and 8% renewables” in 2021. The numbers indicate fossil fuels make up a large chunk of the mix.
Additionally, the report mentions an investigation by news agency The New York Times and not-for-profit organization WattTime. CleanSpark’s existing Sandersville site consumed 72 megawatts of electricity, drawn nearly 90 percent from fossil fuels, adding 314,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
CoinGecko, a data aggregator, reported that CleanSpark is among the top five public Bitcoin miners with reference to BTC holdings. The company owns 2,240 BTC currently. Riot Platforms is currently the biggest crypto miner in the US by capacity, however, Marathon Digital remains on top in terms of BTC holdings.
In October, Texas Coalition Against Cryptomining (TCAC) founder, Jackie Sawicky, said that “Bitcoin proof-of-waste ‘miners’ are wasting water, driving up our electricity bills, getting tax breaks, abatements, and deeply discounted energy. They get paid to shut down once the grid has destabilized, then they resell that cheap energy at a premium.”
Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.
