There is war between states trying to win bitcoinNew data suggests that many miners are going to Texas, New York and Kentucky.

Within the U.S., 19.9% of bitcoin’s hashrate – that is, the collective computing power of miners – is in New York, 18.7% in Kentucky, 17.3% is in Georgia, and 14% in Texas, according to Foundry USA, which is the biggest mining pool in North America and the fifth-largest globally.

Mining pools allow a single miner to combine his hashing power and thousands of miners around the globe. there are dozensYou have many choices. 

Nic Carter, cofounder of Castle Island Ventures said that this is the first state-level information on the location of miners. This is an efficient method of finding out the location of American mining.

Carter however points out that not all U.S. based mining farms are eligible to use the Foundry pool’s services. Riot BlockchainOne example is, which, at the moment, is among America’s most prominent publicly traded mining companies, and has an extensive presence in Texas. They don’t use Foundry, so their hashrate is not accounted for in this dataset – which is part of the reason why Texas’ mining presence is understated. 

Although the data only covers a small portion of the nation’s mining industry, the report does reveal nationwide trends that could change the way we think about carbon. 

The states that rank highest have many epicenters of energy renewable, which is a fact that has begun to change how skeptical people view bitcoin as bad for the planet. 

Carter admits that U.S. mines aren’t entirely renewable but he says that American miners do a better job of selecting renewables or buying offsets. 

He stated that “the migration is certainly a net benefit overall.” “The U.S. hashrate will have a lower carbon intensity than the one moving there.”

If Beijing decided to kick outAbout half the Bitcoin network was virtually dark overnight, according to all of its crypto miners. The incident caused the greatest migration of bitcoin miners to ever occur. 

The Foundry dataset shows the biggest bitcoin mining operations are in some of the states with the most renewable – a game changer for the debate around bitcoin’s environmental impact.  

Because miners at scale compete in a low-margin industry, where their only variable cost is typically energy, they are incentivized to migrate to the world’s cheapest sources of power – which also tend to be renewable.

New York leads Foundry’s list. According to latest data, a third of the state’s in-state power comes from renewables. data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration 

New York has its nuclear power plant counted towards its goal of 100% CO2 free electricity. And, most importantly, New York produces more hydroelectric powerMore than any state east the Rocky Mountains. As such, it was third in hydroelectricity production.

New York’s chilly climate – plus its previously abandoned industrial infrastructure ripe for repurposing – have also made it an ideal spot for bitcoin mining. 

Coinmint is a crypto mining company that operates several facilities in New York. One of these facilities can be found in an old Alcoa Aluminum Smelter located in Massena. This taps into New York’s plentiful wind power and cheap electricity from the St. Lawrence River dams. The Massena site, at 435 megawatts of transformer capacity, is billed as one of – if not the – largest bitcoin mining facility in the U.S.

New York considered legislation to ban Bitcoin mining over three years in order to conduct an environmental assessment and gauge its greenhouse gas emissions. It has been mostly rescinded by lawmakers. 

Carter said that bitcoin mining in New York has a low carbon intensity due to its hydro power. Accordingly, New York would most likely ban bitcoin altogether. It would do the exact opposite of what they want.

Kentucky and Georgia are also capturing large shares of America’s Bitcoin mining industry.

Kentucky’s Governor is friendly to the sector, and just passed legislation this year that allows certain tax exclusions for crypto mining operations. The state is also well-known for its wind power, hydroelectric, and solar energy.

Another power source is connecting rigs with otherwise stranded energies like natural gas wells. Many mining companies in these areas are turning their attention to renewable energy, even though coal plays a significant role in the overall energy mix.

Orders for new ASICs – the specialty gear used to mint new bitcoin – show that tens of thousands more machines are due to be delivered in Texas, according to The Block Crypto 

Texas is attractive because of a few fundamental factors: crypto-friendly legislatures; deregulated power grid, spot pricing with real-time spot prices, and most importantly access to large amounts of excess energy, both renewable or stranded. 

According to Alex Brammer, Luxor Mining’s cryptocurrency pool, Luxor Mining is a regulatory platform that makes it very predictable for the mining industry.

He said, “It’s a very appealing environment for miners that to invest large amounts of capital.” It is overwhelming to see the number of land and power purchase agreements at various stages of negotiation.

For powering their mining rigs, some miners simply plug into the grid. ERCOT (the Texas-based organization responsible for operating the grid) has the most affordable utility-scale sun in America. 2.8 cents per kilowatt hourYou can find it here. The grid continues to add solar and wind energy. 

Brammer said, “You can’t beat power prices in West Texas. And when you combine that with skilled power management companies that can manage demand response programs it’s virtually unbeatable elsewhere in the world.” 

Miners find that deregulated grids offer the most economic opportunities, as they have access to spot energy. 

Carter explained that participants in economic dispatch can stop purchasing electricity when they get too expensive. This gives them more flexibility than if they are involved in spot markets.

A major trend in Texas’ bitcoin mining industry is the use of “stranded”, natural gas as a power source. This reduces carbon emissions as well as makes it profitable for gas suppliers and miners.

Carter says that if this is fully exploited, flared gas in Texas alone could power 34% of the bitcoin network today – which would make Texas not only the clear leader in bitcoin mining in the U.S., but in the world.