Network Undergoes Biggest Difficulty Adjustment Ever; BMC Says 67.6% of North American Bitcoin Mining Is Sustainable

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Today on “The Breakdown,” NLW looks at the latest in the highly dynamic, fast-evolving world of bitcoin mining, including:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">China’s mining ban and the “Great Western Hashrate Migration”</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Bitcoin’s built-in hashrate fluctuation mitigation, the “difficulty adjustment”</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">The Bitcoin Mining Council’s newest sustainable mining figures</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">China’s expansive mining ban, including regions with hydroelectric power, forced China-based miners to liquidate some of their crypto in preparation for a move elsewhere. Where will hashrate move next? Will miners join U.S. crypto-friendly jurisdictions like Texas and Kentucky, or will they stay close to home in bordering countries like Kazakhstan and Russia?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The ban induced a massive reduction of hash power on the network. Luckily, Satoshi prepared for such a circumstance and built in a concept of “difficulty adjustment” into Bitcoin’s protocols, which allows for fluctuation in the composition of miners. The adjustment expected to be made tonight will be the highest adjustment ever made on the network.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Lastly, NLW addresses a report released by the Bitcoin Mining Council on sustainable energy disclosures. This report’s feature number, 56% of mining electricity mix is sustainable in Q2 2021, has some groups excited while others remain skeptical of the validity of the report. As NLW argues, “Some data is better than no data.”</span></p> <div data-pm-slice="1 1 []" data-en-clipboard="true">--</div> <div>Enjoying this content?</div> <div> </div> <div>SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast</div> <div>Apple:  https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1438693620?at=1000l