One of the largest self-mining bitcoin (BTC) companies in North America produced 265.6 newly minted bitcoins last month, a company update revealed.
Marathon Digital, based in Montana, released a production and miner installation update for June 2021 that showed significant advances in BTC production not just from May but throughout the year to date.
A press release from the company revealed that Marathon’s mining fleet has produced around 846 re-minted bitcoins so far in 2021. 265.6 of these were produced in June, showing a slight increase from the 226.6 in May and a sharp increase from the 50.4 in January. Last month’s production brings Marathon’s total BTC inventory to approximately 5,784. That includes the 4,812 that the company acquired earlier this year.
In addition, Marathon reported that construction work on the containers, in which more than half of their mining rigs will be stationed, has been completed. These containers are set up at their facility in Hardin, MT. As new miners were installed every day, Marathon added another 1,740 miners to its 17,655-strong fleet.
According to the press release, the company expects to expand operations in July, August and September; Installation of a further 12,000 miners in these three months. Thereafter, the remaining 73,000 miners will be designated for a new 300 megawatt plant in Texas.
What does this mean for mining in the US?
These results, and Marathon Digital’s ambitions, arguably point to an increase in mining rewards for US-based operations. A boom that has sprung up amid the ongoing ban on crypto mining in China, which has forced many miners to ship their rigs overseas. The US has proven a popular destination as many displaced miners move their operations to Texas.
The ban in China has also resulted in a sustained downward trend in the BTC mining hash rate. A decline that US miners could benefit from.
The story goes on
Reported as the largest downward correction in history on July 3rd, BTC’s mining difficulty has recently dropped 28%. This drop has reportedly left the hash rate at its lowest level in 19 months.
CEOs and politicians discuss crypto mining
The environmental impact of crypto mining, especially BTC, has been the subject of ongoing debate this year amid the China ban. Some countries have followed suit with China in various places, such as Iran.
However, others have spoken out in favor of BTC. Most recently, Cynthia Lummis, currently a US Senator from Wyoming. When she appeared at CNBC’s Financial Advisor Summit, she cited research from the University of Cambridge which suggested that BTC mining uses about 40% renewable energy. Whereby: “… in the non-Bitcoin economy it is only 12%”
She continued:
“A lot of innovations happen behind the scenes. So I would say, don’t judge bitcoin mining as an energy bad guy. There are many things that prove otherwise. “
Senator Lummis later took to Twitter to encourage miners to set up their operations in Wyoming.
CEOs like Leah Wald of Valkyrie Investments have also spoken out on the impact of China’s ban on crypto mining. Speaking on Bloomberg Technology about mining rigs relocation to the US, Wald said:
“The question is how will [the relocation] Affect the price when they are brought back online? When they are in a new place? […] I think that will be a very positive decision. “
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