Energy

It has been over a year since El Salvador became the first and so far only country to adopt Bitcoin as its second national currency. Now, President Nayib Bukele announced that the government will start buying the flagship cryptocurrency on a daily basis.

On June 30, South Korean tech giant Samsung announced new semiconductor chips that can potentially be employed for mining cryptocurrencies. According to the announcement, the new 3-nanometer process technology will enable 45% optimization of power usage.

Leading U.S. lawmakers and members of a select community concerned with water, ocean and wildlife want the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining assessed. A total of 23 members of Congress signed the letter to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator (EPA) Micheal Reagan.

The issue of legalizing the mining of cryptocurrencies in Russia is not new. However, now the country's Energy Ministry is emphasizing the need to create a proper framework so that the economy can benefit from it.

Kazakhstan's Energy Ministry is redoubling its efforts to fight illegal cryptocurrency mining. This week, 13 illegal facilities with a total capacity of over 200 Wt were discovered and shut down.

The government of Kazakhstan is discussing ways to build new power plants to generate additional energy. With this move, the country aims to support the cryptocurrency mining industry.

The State Committee of Homeland Security of Kyrgyzstan discovered an illegal cryptocurrency mining facility in the home of an official from the energy sector.

On December 7, Icelandic utility Landsvirkjun decided to restrict energy supply to industrial companies such as aluminum plants and cryptocurrency miners. The reason for this move is a massive energy shortage.

The Russian Energy Ministry confirms that mining cryptocurrencies is not part of daily needs. Therefore, there is no way for miners to benefit from residential electricity rates.