Many bitcoin miners have been forced to shut down as a direct result of the ongoing snowstorm in the United States.
The Arctic blast and winter storm that hit the United States over the holiday weekend knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses, CNN reported, and claimed the lives of at least 22 people due to the dangerously low temperatures and the toppling of power lines by the storm’s wind gusts and heavy snowfall.
The hash rate, which is a measure of how much processing power is being utilized to process transactions, was falling considerably, signaling a huge shift on the Bitcoin network. From Saturday to Sunday, the average hash rate declined by almost 30% to 155 EH/s (from 230 EH/s), as reported by CoinMetrics. After the National Weather Service warned of the approaching Arctic blast, several large mines halted operations.
Riot Blockchain, a cryptocurrency mining company, said that it would be halting its Rockdale site in Texas due to the severe weather. There were several miners that mirrored this posture. In their latest bankruptcy filing, Core Scientific promised to participate in several power curtailments to assist stabilize the electrical grid. Core Scientific predicted on Twitter that bitcoin would dip at this period.
Compass Mining’s head of mining operations, Neil Galloway, warned Twitter followers to “be prepared for some ups and downs this weekend as we battle with the winter storm.” The company’s Texas sites had also been taken down. They explained that pPeople might now use their stoves and ovens again since your miner was down.
The weather has presented a new set of difficulties for bitcoin miners in the United States. They can’t mine if the power goes off for an extended period of time since their processes need constant, steady energy. According to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, at least 37% of the world’s Bitcoin hash rate originates in the United States.
