According to the latest hashrate map from cryptocurrency mining service provider Foundry USA, Texas accounts for more than 28% of all Bitcoin (BTC) hashrate in the United States.
The newly updated map shows that Texas accounts for 28.5% of the country’s Bitcoin computing power, followed by Georgia at 9.64%, New York at 8.75%, and New Hampshire at 5.33%. Bitcoin’s hash rate represents how fast miners can run when trying to calculate a valid block hash.
A snapshot of the Foundry pool in December 2021 shows a different situation. At that time, Texas controlled 8.43% of the country’s computing power, while Georgia controlled 34.17%. At the same time, Kentucky accounts for 12.40% of the U.S. computing power, and New York accounts for 9.53% of the U.S. computing power. Bitcoin is being mined in more states in the United States this year than in 2021.
Overall, Foundry said that by July 2023, Bitcoin’s global hash rate had reached 400 EH/s, almost double the rate at the end of 2021, when it was 174 EH/s.
The data was drawn between July 21 and 27, 2023, when Texas faced power curtailments. According to the report, the data captured during the curtailment means that the hash rate in Texas may be “higher than the values reported on the map.”
During blackouts, Bitcoin miners reduce production to balance energy supply and demand on the grid. Essentially, this is a way to balance energy consumption during peak hours. In Texas, a program provides incentives for flexible energy use to large energy consumers such as Bitcoin miners.
Riot Platforms is one of the Bitcoin miners participating in the Texas cutbacks. In August, the company mined fewer Bitcoins than in July but received more than $31 million in power credits from the state.
Texas has been developing into a hub for cryptocurrency mining due to its cheaper energy and popular regulatory framework. According to the Energy Information Administration, electricity prices in the state are lower than the U.S. average.
As of January 2023, the average Texas residential electricity price is $0.14 per kilowatt hour (kWh), a discount of 8.3% Comparison of The national average is $0.15 per kilowatt hour. For large consumers such as cryptocurrency miners, the cost is even lower.
Since China cracked down on cryptocurrency mining in 2021, the state has become a hotbed for large-scale mining operations.
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