By
Bena Ilyas
April 25th, 2024
The aspirations of Miami City as noted by Suarez to be a Bitcoin mining hub are in complete contrast to the recent position taken by China’s Inner Mongolia.
The Mayor of Miami Francis Suarez has noted his desire to turn the city into a Bitcoin (BTC) mining hub as he expressed confidence in the city’s energy potentials. Speaking in an interview with Laura Shin, a crypto-journalist and host of Unchained Podcast, Mayor Suarez said Bitcoin mining is considered a “dirty” activity because 90% of it is done in countries that run on dirty energy.
There has been a growing clamor amongst climate change advocates about the environmental impact of Bitcoin and general cryptocurrency mining, as these activities remarkably consumed more energy than some countries around the world. While the context of dirty energy by the Mayor remains obscure, he believes it is easy to reconcile his interest in Bitcoin with the climate change concerns of the city he loves dearly.
“We have the ability to supply clean energy to Bitcoin mining centers and data centers. It would be to benefit the crypto community if we did more mining in the US because we produce clear energy so it would change that narrative and that dynamic and also in the future you will see solar and other kinds of clean technology. In my opinion, technology is going to make Bitcoin mining more efficient,” Suarez said in the interview.
Besides the energy considerations, Mayor Suarez also pointed out the National Security concerns, which he noted that 90% of the mining activities should not be done outside of the United States.
Suarez has a deep affinity for Bitcoin as he has always been vocal about his attempts to usher in policies that will help foster the speedy growth and integration of the revolutionary money and payment system. Amongst his notable plans is to get the city’s workers to have the liberty to choose Bitcoin as a payment alternative, a position in which the city’s commissioners voted on to study before proceeding with.
Miami Aiming to Be a Bitcoin Mining Hub as Inner Mongolia Switches Gear
The aspirations of Miami City as noted by Suarez to be a Bitcoin mining hub are in complete contrast to the recent position taken by China’s Inner Mongolia, a region that is renowned for its BTC mining activities.
In a bid to comply with energy requirements, Inner Mongolia is shutting down all cryptocurrency mining activities by April as earlier reported by Coinspeaker. China as a whole accounts for about 65% of all Bitcoin mining activities in the world, putting enormous pressure on the country’s energy production. Sequel to the move by Inner Mongolia to suspend crypto mining operations, about 21 sites engaged in this activity were stripped of electricity incentives back in August 2020, a signal to discourage both old and new miners from the act.
With the trust in its nuclear energy power, however, Mayor Suarez believes the city of Miami will have nothing to worry about as electricity can be supplied to mining farms “in perpetuity.”