Bitcoin is the most valuable cryptocurrency and it’s the first digital currency to mine. We should say that at the very beginning mining was a kind of ideal. Crypto enthusiasts did not face complicated issues and actually, there were not many of followers compared to nowadays. Then certain people saw an opportunity to run this profitable deal and invested into the creation of Bitcoin farms for mining. These are primarily hardware data centers dedicated just for Bitcoin mining. Mining process is like the backbone of the Bitcoin network and Bitcoin farms constantly process coins.
Interesting facts about power consumption
Bitcoin farms consume huge volume of power. To have a clearer picture, let’s have a look at Ireland. The country consumes about 5,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. All Bitcoin farms working together consume about 60 terawatt-hours of power. Now we can see how huge the difference is. The whole country with its area of 84,421 square kilometers consumes much less than Bitcoin farms.
Another example might be also quite illustrative connected to a Bitcoin transaction. A transaction is a transfer of value within Bitcoin wallets that results in the inclusion to the block chain. To carry out one Bitcoin transaction, the certain amount of electricity is required. The same amount of electricity would be enough for the needs of the average American family for 18 days.
The biggest Bitcoin farms
China is the leader in the crypto mining world. In order to have effective mining, you need to have reliable equipment and there is no difficulty in getting it in China. The greatest advantage for China is cheap electricity in rural parts of the country. The city named Dalian is the mining center of China. In addition to all favorable factors, Dalian has a suitable temperature regime, which saves expense on installation and maintenance of ventilation systems. The equipment used on these Bitcoin farms makes up 3% of the entire Bitcoin network. Mining in China is legal, however, financial institutions have been forbidden to make Bitcoin transactions.
Mining farms in Iсeland
Genesis Mining is using its own hi-end mining facility in Iceland to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Genesis Mining data center is called Enigma and is one of the largest mining farms in the world. At the time of its creation, its main purpose was Ethereum mining, but the farm is now regularly updated to work with modern blockchains. The hash rate of this farm is estimated to be around 1000 GH, which provides significant power consumption in this northern country. This earned Genesis Mining the title of the largest electricity consumer in the entire country of Iceland.
Stability of Bitcoin farms in Russia
According to statistics Russia is one of the biggest Bitcoin farms in the world mining approximately 600 Bitcoins every month. The price of this mining industry is several billions dollars. The team of engineers is involved in monitoring and day-to-day diagnostics of ASICs and power units. All the personal have been trained and certified by Chinese mining companies Bitmain and Innosilicon. Now in the data center there are more than 20 thousand devices for mining. There is an opportunity to increase their number to 67 thousand.
Swiss Bitcoin farms
Europe imposes no bans on mining and farms are more convenient here. In Switzerland, the owner of the farm found the cheapest power in the country located in the small farming village. The owner of this Bitcoin farm, Guido Rudolfi, previously owned a similar mining operation in Zurich, but the costs were quite high for him. The village with the affordable electricity price became the biggest place for Bitcoin mining in the country. The capacity of this farm is unknown, and the owner claims that it is not much interested in getting money from the Bitcoin farm.