- Mar 13, 2022
- 599
Earlier this month, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced its intention to gather basic information about the energy consumed by bitcoin mining. In making the decision, the DOE noted that the share of bitcoin mining happening in the US has shot up by a factor of over 10 just within the last three years, leaving the activity consuming as much electricity as a fairly populous state.
To understand what this means for the US grid and its reliability, the DOE planned to gather information from large bitcoin mining operations within the US. But that plan has now been put on hold by a judge, who issued a restraining order against the DOE in response to a lawsuit filed by miners. In the decision, the judge suggested that bitcoin miners' issues with the plan were likely to see it permanently blocked.
Judge issues restraining order keeping DOE from tracking bitcoin miners
The Department of Energy wants to know how 2% of the US's electricity is being used.
arstechnica.com