Bitcoin faced a major roadblock earlier this year when China cracked down on cryptocurrency and mining operations. The situation resulted in Bitcoin losing nearly half of its value in just a couple of months but in hindsight, it proved to be more of a hiccup than a hurdle.
When mining operators were forced out of China, they didn’t all shut down shop and cause the network to crumble. Sure, some cashed out and moved on to other ventures, but many others simply relocated. According to the latest data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, many of them ended up in the United States.
At the height of the cryptocurrency’s run this past April, roughly 46 percent of the global Bitcoin network hashrate (the measure of computational power used when mining) originated in China with the US having an average monthly share of just 16.8 percent. By August, China was no longer on the map, but the US’ share of the global Bitcoin network hashrate had climbed to 35.4 percent. The next closest competitor, Kazakhstan, accounted for 18.1 percent in August.
The CBECI further noted that total Bitcoin electricity consumption for September 2021 was 7.97 terawatt-hours.
Just last month, a holding company in Pennsylvania purchased a power plant that burns waste coal to power Bitcoin miners stored in onsite shipping containers.
Bitcoin has held steady around the $60,000 mark over the past month or so. Rather, it’s been alt and meme coins like Dogecoin and Shiba Inu that have made the most noise lately, with both generating impressive gains on the week.