A federal judge in Texas has issued a preliminary order blocking the U.S. government from monitoring the energy usage of crypto mining operations, warning the industry would suffer “irreparable harm” if forced to comply. He said he showed it. The Guardian reports: Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy launched an “emergency” initiative aimed at examining the energy use of mining operations. Mining operations typically use vast amounts of computing power to solve various mathematical puzzles to add new tokens to an online network known as a blockchain. Enables mining of currencies such as Bitcoin. The growth of cryptocurrencies and related mining is being blamed for the surge in electricity usage. Data centers are springing up across the United States, sometimes even reviving failed coal-fired power plants to power mining. […]
“Cryptocurrency mining’s high energy consumption and rapid growth in the United States is undermining progress toward meeting climate change goals and reducing power grids, communities, and communities. “This could threaten ratepayers.” Until now, Desroches added, the lack of publicly available information has only benefited “an industry that has thrived in the shadows.”
But the cryptocurrency mining industry has so far managed to avoid an investigation it claims is unduly burdensome, claiming it is the victim of a “politically motivated campaign” by the Joe Biden administration. There is. Lee Bratcher, president of the Blockchain Council of Texas, one of the groups that filed the lawsuit seeking to halt the investigation, said: “This is an attack on legitimate American businesses and an attempt by the administration to score political points.'' “They are pretending to be an emergency.” “The White House has made clear that it wants to ‘limit or eliminate’ Bitcoin miner activity in the United States. Bitcoin is resilient and cannot be banned, but the administration “Attempts to threaten the livelihoods of Bitcoin miners and their employees,” and whose communities are unbearably difficult to operate in the United States. This is very worrying. ”