- The
Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC ) made a formaldebut as concerns of cryptocurrency and its adverse effects on the environment are gaining popularity. - While Musk was expected to be a part of the forum, he has unsurprisingly been sidelined with the crypto community rallying against him of late.
- According to critics, Musk has a habit of toying with new cryptocurrencies that have little value and fueling volatility in an already unstable market.
- Tesla’s rollback of
Bitcoin payments has also irked enthusiasts and many blame him for undercutting the decentralised nature of cryptocurrency.
The creation of the BMC is a result of environmental concerns of cryptocurrency and its excessive energy consumption, especially when it comes to fossil fuels. The hope is that it will be able to encourage Bitcoin miners to use renewable energy sources — how the council plans to do so is still not clear.
What is the Bitcoin Mining Council?
The BMC is a ‘voluntary’ and ‘open forum’ of $4 miners committed to the network and its core principles. And, the forum’s mandate is to promote transparency, endorse good practices, and educate people about Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining.
The group currently consists of energy-conscious mining companies from North America. The current participants include business intelligence provider MicroStrategy, investment management firm Galaxy Digital, blockchain mining company Argo, technology firm Hive, and mining company Riot.
While Musk was expected to be a part of the forum, it’s not surprising to see him get $4 with recent events turning the tide against the billionaire. The crypto community now looks at him as more of a problem than the solution.
Elon Musk is no longer a favourable evangelist
The cryptocurrency community has increasingly been ridiculing Musk for his tweets. Rather than promoting virtual currency, his tweets are now criticised for being manipulative in nature.For instance, his memes on Dogecoin instantly became a hit and people started pouring money into the meme-based cryptocurrency. However, the bullish run was short-lived as the blockchain has no inherent value and was simply flying because Musk endorsed it.
This is because Musk has a lot of clout due to his past achievements — from PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX to The Boring Company, OpenAI, and Neuralink. So, when he says anything about a $4, people make their investments based on his cryptic comments.
Dogecoin is only the most recent of incidents. He has also tweeted about other meme-based cryptos like Shiba Inu, which witnessed a similar bullish run, followed by a massive crash.
The problem is that Musk’s comments are usually about new cryptocurrencies that have little value. And, in a market that’s already unstable, his speculations add even more volatility.
Moreover, Musk announced that Tesla will accept payments in Bitcoin in March, only to $4 in May. He justified this by asserting that Bitcoin consumes a lot of energy and Tesla, being a green company, cannot support the use of fossil fuels to mine them.
Bitcoin enthusiasts insist that mining mainly involves renewable energy, however, the truth is miners focus on whatever is cheapest. China $4 the race with 75% of total Bitcoin mining in the world, mostly supported by burning coal.
What will the BMC do exactly?
The BMC will hold quarterly meetings in order to analyze mining trends, partner with industry researchers, gather data for educational purposes, and foster growth in the North American Bitcoin mining industry.
Experts say that the council shall have little relevance since a majority of mining is done in China, and there’s no party representing the country or its miners within the forum.
Those in favour of the council debate that China is also clamping down on mining and its adoption of CBDCs leave little room for other cryptocurrencies. Hence, the lack of Chinese representation shouldn’t be a major concern.
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