Lawmakers: US Crypto-Mining Companies Need to Disclose Energy Usage
It’s no secret that cryptocurrency mining can consume lots of electricity. But now a group of US lawmakers is calling on the federal government to require domestic crypto-mining companies to regularly report their energy usage and carbon emissions.
On Friday, six Democratic lawmakers, including US Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), sent a letter urging(Opens in a new window) the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to enforce more transparency in the crypto-mining industry.
The lawmakers conducted their own investigation, which involved scrutinizing seven major crypto-mining firms in the country. The investigation found that the companies collectively can use at least 1,045 megawatts of electricity to mine cryptocurrencies, which is almost enough energy to power all the residential homes in Houston, Texas, according to their estimates.
“Our investigation suggests that the overall US cryptomining industry is likely to be problematic for energy and emissions. But little is known about the full scope of cryptomining activity,” the lawmakers wrote in their letter(Opens in a new window).
The lawmakers added: “There is no national or state reporting requirement or compilation of the locations of cryptomining facilities in the United States, and no federal regulations specifically governing cryptomining. Consequently, policymakers and the public do not have a comprehensive source of information about where these operations are located, how much energy they consume, and what their sources of energy are.”
The lawmakers are particularly concerned with whether the cryptocurrency mining contributes to carbon emissions and can result in electricity price hikes. According to their investigation, many of
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