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And this is why bitcoin isn’t a ponzi! All this capex to just mine!!! Crazy!
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Any idea how they will be generating the power? Or are they sucking from the grid?
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No idea.
Even if it was a mix of renewable (e.g., wind and solar) and carbon-based (e.g., natural gas), the only way it makes sense to use this for bitcoin mining is when the generation capacity is in excess of demand, and thus available to Riot at a low price.
And then when the grid demand is such that that the market will pay a higher price, Riot can assist in providing additional capacity for the grid (by powering down their equipment).
This is what makes it so that a grid that uses intermittent renewables can work without suffering repeated unplanned outages, "load shedding", and such.
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Yes - these kinds of 'ancillary services' are high value for electricity suppliers and can avoid the need to fire up gas turbines / release hydro etc.
Would just like to see these kinds of things mentioned when miners release such reports, as otherwise the reader tends to assume the worst.
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To put this in context, according to this article, 1GW is equivalent to:
  • 3.125 Million Photovoltaic (PV) Panels
  • 333 Utility-Scale Wind Turbines
  • 100 Million LEDs
  • Roughly 1.3 Million Horses (?)
  • 2,000 Corvette Z06s
  • or 9,090 Nissan Leafs
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