Bitcoin network hashrate drops by 25% amid freezing temperatures in Texas

What’s new? Since January 12, total computing power on the Bitcoin network has collapsed by 25% amid cold weather in the state of Texas, which led to local miners being disconnected from the power grid. More than four gW of power has been shut down during this period, TheMinerMag reported. YCharts data shows that the hashrate dropped from 629 to 415 EH/s, which coincided with a weather warning issued by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). ERCOT later urged businesses and residents to conserve electricity

Source: Twitter.com

What else is known? According to MiningPoolStats, miners affiliated with Foundry USA Pool, one of the largest mining pool operators by hashrate, were responsible for about half of the drop in total computing power (from 155 to 77 EH/s).

Luxor Pool users were also affected by the cold weather, as was miner Marathon Digital. “Luxor mining partners have significantly curtailed their operations, shutting down machines to give back power allocation to the grid,” Luxor Technology COO Ethan Vera told The Block.

“Many Bitcoin miners in Texas, Marathon included, have curtailed operations over the past few days to support the Texas grid and the state’s citizens during the current cold outbreak,” Marathon VP of Corporate Communications Charlie Schumacher added.

“Bitcoin miners are, among other things, a technology solution for the energy sector. In Texas, they serve as baseload that can be curtailed in minutes to free up energy for others in a time of crisis. That’s exactly what we’ve seen play out over the past few days,” Schumacher added.

The state is home to Riot Blockchain and Argo Blockchain, among others. In the summer of 2022, miners also had their data centers suspended multiple times due to high temperatures in Texas.

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Over the previous 24 hours, miners sold bitcoins totaling $450 million. Analysts believe that amid the rate hike, they are seeking to lock in profits and replenish cash reserves.

CoinShares said that halving the bitcoin network would be a challenge for miners with high operating costs.