Bitcoin miners increasingly rely on government handouts to compete
Bitcoin miners have evolved from the beginning when anyone could mine with their CPU at home to a model mostly dominated by sophisticated conglomerates, many of whom employ media relations personnel and use lawsuits, lobbyists, and other corporate tactics to increase their profits. NASDAQ-listed miner Riot Blockchain recently joined a case against the US Department of Energy, in an attempt to prevent the release of survey data about Bitcoin miners’ energy usage. That data would have helped the Department of Energy to recommend better electricity usage policies, however, miners wanted to hide their energy usage from public view, so they filed a legal complaint in a Waco, Texas courthouse. Keeping Bitcoin electricity usage private The lawsuit filed by the Texas Blockchain Council (which has Bitcoin miners as members), claimed that the survey would cause irreparable harm to their business. Furthermore, Council members alleged the Department of Energy violated the Paperwork Reduction ...