SoylentNews

canopic jug [soylentnews.org] writes:

The excellent student run newspaper, The Michigan Daily, has an article about the necessity of regulating Bitcoin [michigandaily.com]. "Mining" even a single Bitcoin now burns as much electricity as a family would use during about 50 days.

Local grids physically cannot withstand this outrageous consumption of electricity. In foreign countries — where mining farm clustering is more severe [sunbirddcim.com] — local governments suspect Bitcoin mining [apnews.com] farms as the cause of power outages and complete blackouts. Entire neighborhoods are facing power shortages [msn.com] or complete outages as a result of energy grid strain. So far, the reliance on domestic energy has not had adverse effects, but it is only a matter of time before these blackouts begin to take place in the United States, too. 

Despite the fatal externality flaws in Bitcoin mining, the industry is left unchecked [brookings.edu] in the absence of federal or international regulation on its use. Unfortunately, without restrictions [ezblockchain.net] on the amount of mining that can occur, there is no clear plateau to the electricity consumption of these constantly updating hardware systems. 

Previously:
(2025) Bitcoin Mining is Making People Sick [soylentnews.org]
(2025) The Guy Who Accidentally Threw Away $700 Million in Bitcoin Wants to Buy the Landfill to Find It [soylentnews.org]
(2024) How A 27-Year-Old Busted The Myth Of Bitcoin’s Anonymity [soylentnews.org]

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