Bitcoin mining has long been the target of environmental activists due to its perceived wastefulness.
A recent article from the Economist caused a fresh backlash against the controversial industry.
As noted by the prominent media outlet, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which is responsible for managing the flow of electric power in the state, pays Bitcoin miners not to turn their computers on high electricity demand days. Last August, Riot Platforms earned four times more money from ERCOT for simply curtailing mining.
American author and journalist Robert Evans has opined that “the primary profit from industrial Bitcoin mining in Texas is being bribed by the state not to destroy the grid.”
Some commentators believe that miners should be forced to pay more for their electricity. “This should not be how this works! Bitcoin miners should pay more for their electricity and be fined if they use too much, not be paid NOT to mine Bitcoin!” Ed Zitron, CEO of media and public relations group EZPR, wrote in a social media post.
Noah Smith, a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist, has predicted that there will be a strong backlash against Bitcoin miners in Texas.
Kelsey D. Atherton, a military technology journalist, has suggested that the government was supposed to seize the property of Bitcoin miners and cut them off the grid instead of giving them tens of millions of dollars not to work.
Some went as far as describing such tactics as “extortion,” accusing mining companies of holding the state’s power grid hostage.
Economist Nathan Tankus even compared the questionable “business model” to Enron. “Crypto has reinvented a more legally permissible version of Enron’s ghost orders which they were paid to cancel,” he said.
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