By
Mayowa Adebajo
April 24th, 2024
Many participants proposed ideas regarding the future of the crypto mining industry and how more decentralization could be attained.
The Bitcoin 2022 Conference took place last week in Miami with a number of leaders across the crypto and mining industry joining. Crypto mining has witnessed a tectonic shift after China banned its last year in May 2021.
A majority of the miners moved to the US in search of better opportunities and cheap electricity. furthermore, the industry is largely focusing on the use of renewables. During the Bitcoin 2022 Conference last week, mining rig manufacturers unveiled more power devices.
Some of the leaders said that the mining industry will turn more cost-competitive with the latest and most efficient equipment. Marathon CEO Fred Thiel said that “all of us are moving full speed ahead, guns blazing”. Mike Levitt, chairman and CEO of Core Scientific, said that capital flows have tightened and there’s no place for small or large scale miners.
He said that either you can be “scaled and efficient” or make a bit more money by being “very small [and] nimble”. “I wouldn’t want to be trying to start to build a scale business today. It’s just not easy to do that,” he said.
Riot Blockchain CEO Jason Les believes that the biggest barrier to entry is the lack of technical know-how.
Proposal for Decentralized Mining
For a very long time, China alone concentrated a huge majority of the crypto mining hashpower. Thus, there’s been a demand for decentralized mining at the geographical and ownership levels. Speaking about it, Ben Gagnon, chief mining officer at Bitfarms said:
“Historically, we’ve looked at decentralization as just purely physical locations. But if you’re looking at that vulnerability on a 51% attack, it’s not the physical distribution of mining equipment that matters. It’s the ownership of that mining equipment that matters. I can control 51% of hashrate all throughout the world. I don’t need to control it all in one location.”
Bob Burnett, CEO of Barefoot Mining has another interesting take on decentralization. He sees crypto mining decentralization from perspectives of power sources and ASIC technology. Burnett added:
“There’s all kinds of different places in which centralization can occur and I honestly think we’re becoming more centralized. I don’t think we are dangerously centralized right now, but I think there are some vectors that worry me. I am concerned that most of the mega-site development is also public companies. I think that’s a really, really dangerous place. That is a cultural change for a company and I frankly think it can be a very fiat move, that it takes a Bitcoin-centric company and forces a fiat mindset into it.”
Home Mining for Crypto
There were also talks about home mining or mining at the individual level. some people also shared ideas about how future products could make mining easier at the home level. This will make it easier for people who are not tech-savvy miners. Jack Dorsey‘s Block Inc is already working in this direction.