The mine’s shutdown coincided with a significant drop in Bitcoin’s hash rate—the measuring unit of the Bitcoin network’s processing power.
“China’s current obsession with coal plants—despite greenhouse emission promises—means that certain miners can take advantage of cheap “dirty” power in some regions,” Jason Deane, Bitcoin analyst at Quantum Economics, told Decrypt.
A study published by Cambridge University estimates that only 39% of the power used to mine Bitcoin currently comes from renewable sources.
There are many tasks ahead before China can make good on its promise, but one of these involves making Bitcoin’s energy consumption greener than it currently is.
Yet Deane suggests that over time, Bitcoin’s environmental impact will decline as mining becomes more globally distributed.