Texas has emerged as the undisputed leader in Bitcoin mining in the United States. Data gathered by Foundry, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool, reveals that the Lone Star State now hosts a staggering 28.5% of the nation’s total hash rate, solidifying its position as the top destination for miners.
This incredible surge in Texas’s mining dominance represents a remarkable turnaround since 2021 when the state’s hash rate share was a comparatively modest 8.4%. At the time, states like New York (9.5%) and Georgia (34.2%) held a higher percentage of the Bitcoin network’s computational power. However, the tide has turned, with New York and Georgia now seeing their shares drop to 8.8% and 9.6%, respectively.
Several factors have contributed to this shift. Georgia’s decline can be attributed in part to a large miner from the 2021 sample choosing not to participate in the 2023 analysis. Meanwhile, New York’s growth in mining has stagnated since the implementation of a memorandum against fossil fuel-powered miners last year.
Other states, including Nebraska, North Carolina, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Washington, have also witnessed significant drops in their mining shares.
Texas’s ascent to the top can be attributed to government incentives aimed at encouraging miners to assist in stabilizing the electricity grid. During periods of peak demand, the grid operator, ERCOT, requests that miners pause their operations to ensure power availability for residential consumers, with compensation provided later for their cooperation.
Riot Blockchain CEO Jason Les highlighted the impact of these power credits, noting that they “significantly lower Riot’s cost to mine Bitcoin.” As a result, Riot Blockchain has unveiled expansion plans in Navarro and Milam counties. Rival company Cipher Mining has also made a significant move, purchasing 11,000 mining machines for its Texas facility in May.
Foundry, which published its data in July during a period of curtailment for Texas miners, believes that its 28.5% estimate might actually be conservative, considering the recent growth in the state’s mining activities.
While Foundry’s data provides a comprehensive view of Bitcoin mining in Texas, the University of Cambridge also tracks Bitcoin hash rate and electricity consumption. However, their mining map hasn’t been updated since January 2022, with Texas representing just 11.2% of the U.S. hash rate in that dataset.
Alexander Neumueller, Cambridge Research Lead for Digital Assets Climate Impact, expressed the team’s intent to update their mining map “early next year.” He emphasized the importance of a large sample size and diversification among collaborating pools. ANTPOOL, the second-largest pool after Foundry, has recently been added to their list.
Neumueller shared, “I expect that the landscape today looks noticeably different than our last data point in January 2022, particularly with respect to China and Kazakhstan.”
Texas’s newfound prominence in Bitcoin mining serves as a testament to the region’s resilience, adaptability, and commitment to supporting the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry, making it the premier destination for miners seeking a stable and sustainable environment to mine the digital gold of the 21st century.
