The Bitcoin network hashrate has dropped by 20% since the weekend. For what reason?
The Bitcoin network hashrate is dropping
The hashrate dropped from around 600 EH/s the previous Friday to 450 EH/s on Tuesday. At the time of writing this, it is just over 500 EH/s.
How did the decline happen? It was… the weather. The correction coincided with a weather warning issued by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on January 14–17. It showed that there would be an extreme drop in temperatures in the region.
But what does the temperature in Texas have to do with the Bitcoin network? ERCOT is the state's electric grid regulator. He issued environmental appeals on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, expressing concerns about low “operating reserves” resulting from freezing temperatures, high demand and extremely low winds. In other words, it was about potential problems with electricity supplies and a possible increase in demand for it (by heating homes).
Local BTC mines responded to ERCOT's appeal. The problem is that these were giants like Luxor Mining Pool and Marathon Digital. The former's chief operating officer, Ethan Vera, admitted that his company had significantly reduced its operations. Just because of ERCOT's request.
Marathon's vice president of corporate communications, Charlie Schumacher, made a similar statement. That's why we know that Marathon also temporarily interrupted its mining run and partially turned off its excavators.
Texas is the new center for bitcoin mining
However, the above shows how important a region Texas has become for the BTC world. Miners fled China – mainly because of Beijing's restrictive policy. Then they moved to Kazakhstan, where, however, there were very serious problems with access to electricity. Ultimately, they found their place – at least for now – in a southern US state.
Several companies, including Marathon Digital, Riot Platforms and Iris Energy, have contributed to the development of mining in Texas. They emphasize that they were attracted to this place by factors such as cheap electricity and the state's deregulated energy market. As you can see, even temporary power supply problems do not discourage these giants from the region.
