Buying a whole power plant to mine digital currency, miners spend less than 3,000 USD to dig a Bitcoin

By far, Bitcoin mining is one of the most energy-intensive computing activities and of course it also has a negative impact on the environment. Besides, the cost of electricity is also one of the problems that cause headaches for operators if they want to be profitable.

That’s why a Pennsylvania-based Bitcoin mining company called Stronghold Digital Mining decided to buy out an entire power plant this past summer to maximize profits for its mining operations. Currently, Stronghold’s 1,800 Bitcoin mining computers are located inside the Scubgrass power plant in Venango County.

Prior to that, Stronghold raised $105 million to open a power plant for their Bitcoin mining operation. Currently the plant is burning coal waste to produce electricity to power their 1,800 Bitcoin mining computers.

According to Stronghold Digital Mining, the company is burning about 600,000 tons of coal waste at Scrubgrass each year for its Bitcoin mining operation. This information was disclosed in Stronghold’s filing with the SEC when the company intended to list on the stock exchange.

What’s worse is that Stronghold says it is planning to expand its coal-fired operation to produce more electricity for its mining rig. In August, the company acquired a second power plant in Pennsylvania called Panther Creek. They are aiming to expand 1/3 more than before.

One of the reasons the company chose this place is because of its tax incentives for coal waste burning. With these incentives, Stronghold says each Bitcoin they earn will cost less than $3,000. Currently the Bitcoin price is hovering at $42,000, which is more than enough profit for the company’s huge investment.

Bitcoin mining uses a variety of computing power of processors to solve complex mathematical calculations. This process helps maintain the digital ledger of the cryptocurrency network, or blockchain. When the math problems are solved, Bitcoin miners will receive the cryptocurrency as a reward.

The more computing power you have, the more calculations you can solve and the more Bitcoins you will earn. This process requires so much computing power that ordinary computers can no longer help miners earn Bitcoins. Many miners have had to buy thousands of dollars worth of specialized computers to profit from the Bitcoin mining process.

According to calculations by the University of Cambridge, Bitcoin miners used about 130 TWh (Tereawatt hours) for their virtual currency mining. Another report by TechCrunch shows that _CO2 emissions from Bitcoin mining is almost equivalent to the emissions of a country like Jordan with a population of about 10 million people.

Refer to Mashable