Bitcoin mining still elicits debate that it consumes too much fossil fuels, which is bad for the environment
Blockstream, a Canada-based blockchain technology firm and major Bitcoin miner, has announced a new partnership aimed at helping it go green in its crypto mining venture.
In a blog post published Thursday, the company revealed it had struck a deal with Macquarie Group, an Australian asset management and financial services firm with operations across 32 markets.
As per the announcement, the partnership with Macquarie Group will help Blockstream work towards the use of renewable energy in the mining of Bitcoin (BTC).
CEO of Blockstream Adam Back said that the partnership with Macquarie provides massive potential.
According to him, the Australian company has extensive experience in the traditional infrastructure space and energy markets. He also noted that Blockstream ranks as one of the largest BTC miners, with equally extensive expertise in providing solutions hinged on blockchain technology.
The collaboration will therefore see Blockstream seek to push its capacity in mining hardware hosting with added input from the Australian firm’s expertise in the field of energy. The mining firm plans to explore the use of carbon-neutral sources of energy and how to exploit these in the mining process.
The North American BTC mining giant will then look to scale the collaboration to put green energy to use across its mining facilities.
The partnership between the two companies comes at a time when Bitcoin’s price has struggled to recapture the bullish outlook that saw it reach highs near $65,000 earlier this year.
Notably, though, it comes months into a severe Chinese crackdown on Bitcoin miners, with the debate around the cryptocurrency’s huge electricity consumption resurfacing earlier in the summer.
The view that Bitcoin mining relies heavily on fossil fuels saw Tesla announce an about-turn on Bitcoin, with the BTC market reaction seeing prices tumble to multi-month lows.
Elsewhere, Argo Blockchain has reportedly secured a $25 million loan to fund a 320-acre facility in Texas earmarked for ‘green’ Bitcoin mining.
The post Blockstream taps Australia’s Macquarie for green Bitcoin mining appeared first on Coin Journal.
