The bitcoin mining industry is currently in a difficult position. Many miners are forced to capitulate due to the low exchange rate and high energy costs. Still, experts say the industry is here to stay, but we may not have seen the worst yet.
At the mine Bitcoin (BTC) involves a lot. Miners face capital and operational costs, unexpected repairs, delays in shipping parts and unexpected regulations that can vary from country to country.
In the case of the United States, regulations can even differ from state to state. Moreover, the price of bitcoin also has a lot of influence. Miners are also suffering from the sharp decline in the bitcoin price, which has fallen from its high of $69,000 to a recent low of $17,600 since November 2021.
Bitcoin mining companies under pressure
We may not have seen the real implications for this industry yet, Luxor CEO Nick Hansen reports during a Bitcoin mining panel by Cointelegraph:
“There will certainly be a capital crisis in publicly traded companies, and not even just in publicly traded companies. There is probably almost $4 billion in new aSICs that still have to be paid for when they come out, but that capital is no longer available.
I think miners need 3 to 6 months to blow up. So we’ll see who has good operations and who is able to survive this low-margin environment.”
The full panel can be seen below. Despite miners under heavy pressure, the general consensus among them remains to remain calm and continue to accumulate more BTC. Even if the price drops even lower.
Bitcoin mining and the milieu
During the discussion, the environmental impact of mining bitcoin was also denounced. For example, there is the public assumption that Bitcoin’s energy consumption poses a threat to the planet. To this, Joe Burnett, Blockware Solutions analyst, said the following:
“I don’t think bitcoin mining is bad for the environment, period. I think it drives more energy production, improves grid reliability and improves resilience and I think in the long run it will probably lower retail electricity rates.”
Recently, the Bitcoin Mining Council published a new report claiming that 60% of the energy put into BTC mining now comes from renewable sources.
