Speculators rush to sell off their kit as Balkan state announces a crypto clampdown to ease electricity crisis
Summary
- The incentive to get into the mining game in Kosovo, one of Europe’s poorest countries, is obvious.
- The latest calculation from Cambridge University’s bitcoin electricity consumption index suggests that global bitcoin mining consumes 125.96 terawatt hours a year of electricity, putting its consumption above Norway (122.2 TWh), Argentina (121 TWh), the Netherlands (108.8 TWh) and the United Arab Emirates (113.20 TWh).
- “On the other hand we have crypto mining, which is a highly energy-intensive activity and is not regulated.”Kosovo is not alone.
- Last September, the 10 most powerful regulators in China vowed to kill off what was then the world’s biggest cryptocurrency mining industry.
- “There are a lot of people who have invested in crypto mining equipment and it’s not a small investment,” cryptoKapo said.