ROCKDALE, Texas – In this rural Texas town of 5,600 people, two of the biggest names in bitcoin mining are battling it out for market share and cheap electricity.

This rival also happens to be right next door.

Bitdeer – a firm spun off from Chinese bitcoin mining giant Bitmain – is four-tenths of a mile down the road from Riot BlockchainOne of America’s largest publicly traded mining companies,. They are both tenants in property that was once owned by an aluminum producer. AlcoaWhile they have a lot in common,

Riot’s Whinstone mining is managed by a team that values transparency. Bitdeer on the other side is distant, steeped and mystery-laden and certainly not open to visitors. 

“In this industry everyone is like, “Ooh top secret, We have proprietary information!” “No, really, you don’t,” Whinstone CEO Chad Harris explained to CNBC.

You take a cable and plug it in to a machine built by someone else. Then you switch it on.

Texas Electric Reliability Council, ERCOTTexas’ grid is managed by, a non-profit organization. Customers can select from a variety of providers because the grid is not regulated. 

Miners who work at large compete in an industry that is low margin and where energy costs are their primary variable cost, which gives reason for them to seek out the lowest-cost power supplies. Miners are able to benefit from the competition between Texas’ power suppliers, which typically results in lower rates.

Alcoa used to have the largest aluminum plant anywhere in the world. It was located in Rockdale. According to Lee Bratcher (president of the Texas Blockchain Council), it shut down operations beginning in 2008.

This imbalance was resolved by the arrival of crypto miners.

Miners are also able to adapt to fluctuating prices and power supply. Mining is able to handle an outage, much like an aluminum smelter and other businesses without causing major financial losses.

This is a significant feat for a state which has struggled recently with reliability of its electricity grid. 

ERCOT may ask consumers to save energy during heat waves. The blackouts that the state experienced earlier in this year were also due to severe winter storms.

Mayor King believes today’s deal between ERCOT miners and ERCOT was simple and mutually-beneficial. The miners use power that would otherwise go to waste and can turn off machines when it is needed. Financial incentives encourage miners to volunteer. 

Miners commit to purchasing a certain amount power, and then they sell it back to the market [value]King said that it was possible to make a profit by selling the contract. They can make a profit by selling it at $9 per kilowatt hour. 

Ted Cruz (R-Texas), said that there were many things that went wrong during the severe winter storm that struck Texas in the early 2021. But I believe that bitcoin can address many aspects of this.”

Cruz has a long history of being a leader in the bitcoin industry and other aspects. Recently, Cruz spoke out at the Texas Blockchain Summit. During his main stage interview, Cruz pointed to the importance of the ability of bitcoin miners to turn on or off within seconds – a feature that is hugely beneficial during times when energy needs to be shifted back to the grid to meet demand. 

Cruz stated that bitcoin is often seen as an energy consumer. Cruz stated, “The view I am suggesting is the opposite. It is as a means to improve our energy infrastructure.”

James Gibson, Rockdale’s director of economic development, said that 160 acres are available for purchase. 

Nearly 40 inquires have already been received by King from potential mining companies interested in setting up operations there. Many of these are Chinese miners. This spring was also a busy one. Beijing cracked downan industry in crypto-mining. In recent years, many exiled miners fled to the United States for safety and protection. became the top mining destinationThe planet. 

They are rich. They are equipped. They just need a place – and power, quick,” said Gibson.

Riot purchased the Whinstone mine earlier this yearIt was purchased for $80million and is currently billed as North America’s largest crypto mine. While the company continues to grow, once construction of the 100-acre parcel of land is completed, it is anticipated that the crypto mine will be fully operational. total power capacity of 750 megawatts 

Gibson claims that the average use of downtown Dallas is 200 megawatts. Gibson said, “It’s as if we had downtown Manhattan and Downtown Dallas in our backyard.”

This grid can provide that much power. It is the tricky part of physically tapping into it. To adjust voltage levels to be usable, mines require special equipment. Transformers take power from substations and turn it into a lower voltage, which can be used to charge bitcoin miners. 

King stated that Transformers can be obtained in 12 weeks, if you have the cash and are willing to work hard. However, you still need to turn off the electricity. King states that the average wait to get a substation can be 16-18 months. 

Whinstone constructs its substations in-house, which is a major advantage for potential miners heading to Rockdale. Three 100-megawatt transformers are being installed at the moment. 

Harris stated that Harris was ironic because if Harris wants the transformer right away, even though he hasn’t ordered, it takes 64 weeks. 

Whinstone also tries out new tech.

A computer program crunches thousands of mathematical equations when rigs mine. It is hard work to do all these calculations, so the hardware heats up quickly. A facility may install fans to keep them cool so they don’t heat up. This hot air is drawn into the central chamber, known as “the hot aisle” at the Whinstone location by individual fans. 

Harris brought CNBC in to measure the temperature. It can reach 150°F.

Riot now experiments with immersion cooling at Whinstone. They submerge the computers in a special fluid to keep them operating at lower temperatures. After the heated fluid has been circulated, it is further pumped to dissipate heat. The cooled fluid then is pumped back into the computer.

It claims it has the first time it’s been doneAt an industrial scale. Immersion-cooled buildings can house around 46,000 Antminer S19 Series ASICs. The term originally meant the most efficient integrated circuits for mining, but is now used to refer to a computer or mining machine.

Jason Les, Riot CEO believes that this is a major win for the bottom line. 

We expect to see an increase in productivity and hashrate through 2022 without needing additional ASICs.”  Les said in a statement.

It was not a good thing that there wasn’t a single hospital in the area. abruptly shut down in 2018. Rockdale was also fighting for his life. problem with its water systemResidents complained about stale, red-colored water from their taps. Rockdale desperately needed a rest. 

Whinstone was then joined by a new-found Bitdeer. Bitmain had split recently after infighting at its top. Whinstone was a leader in numerous initiatives for job creation and community outreach. 

Bratcher said that Rockdale’s economy had been devastated for years, until bitcoin miners arrived.

Some people remain skeptical following years of whiplash. King believes this is a different time.

The industry suffered a major blow when Beijing exiled all its crypto miners. China held 75% of world’s top bitcoin miners for many years. After the crackdown, many started to migrate to Texas as a result of mass migrations of people and hardware. 

The migration continues and some want to place their flag at Rockdale. King is fine with this.