A gaggle of Democratic lawmakers led by Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachuttes has requested six crypto mining corporations, together with Riot Blockchain, to reply questions concerning the influence of their operations on the atmosphere and price of electrical energy within the US. In separate letters to the chief executives of every agency, the group asks the businesses to element how a lot electrical energy they eat, their scaling plans and any agreements they’ve in place with native utility corporations. They have till February tenth to answer.
Lawmakers say they’re involved about what a dramatic improve in home cryptocurrency mining has meant for the atmosphere and customers. Specifically, they cite a 2021 examine from the University of California, Berkeley that estimated crypto mining in upstate New York raised annual electrical energy payments by roughly $165 million for small companies and $79 million for customers, “with little or no local economic benefit.” They additionally level to the truth that power consumption associated to Bitcoin mining tripled between 2019 and 2021.
“The extraordinarily high energy usage and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining could undermine our hard work to tackle the climate crisis – not to mention the harmful impacts crypto mining has on local environments and electricity prices,” Senator Warren stated. “We need more information on the operations of these crypto mining companies to understand the full scope of the consequences for our environment and local communities.”
The group stops in need of suggesting regulatory motion might be on the horizon for the business, however clearly the impact of cryptocurrency on different elements of the financial system is one thing lawmakers are fascinated with. On January twentieth, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a listening to titled “Cleaning up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchains.” What’s extra, US lawmakers have taken a extra board curiosity in cryptocurrencies in latest months. That was on show in December when the Senate held a listening to on Stablecoins.