After recovering from a near-death experience during the most recent crypto winter, Bitcoin miners are back in survival mode — spending billions of dollars on equipment and drawing energy at a record pace ahead of an update in the digital currency’s code that threatens revenue streams.
The machines are being purchased to help miners increase efficiency for their operations and lock in favorable electricity rates. “If we assume power draw was consistent over the course of the month, we can multiply by 696 to get 13.64 TWh of energy consumed by the Bitcoin network over the course of last month,” said Coin Metrics Senior Solutions Engineer Parker Merritt.
The rising price of Bitcoin “allows most miners to remain profitable,” said Zachary Bradford, CEO and president at CleanSpark, adding that his firm was profitable at lower prices.