Riot Blockchain shut down several times during the recent Texas heat wave , but profited from $9.5 million in energy credits, much more than selling bitcoin .
A large cryptocurrency farm in Texas generated $9.5 million in profit from energy credits, a much higher amount than it would have made mining bitcoin .
Despite having to shut down operations due to the heat wave in the state, Riot Blockchain made millions from power purchase agreements signed on the local grid, which allowed them to sell the electricity they purchased for a higher sum.
valuable energy
Riot Blockchain itself announced that it had earned an estimated $9.5 million in energy credits from shutting down its mining rigs multiple times.
In the same report, the company indicates that it sold 275 bitcoins , with an equivalent income of 5.6 million dollars.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, also known as ERCOT, had asked businesses to routinely shut down to conserve electricity during July. Riot and its massive 750-megawatt bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, cut power multiple times during times of peak demand.
ERCOT offers power purchase agreements that typically have a one-year term for large companies, a deal Riot Blockchain has embraced.
The amount of bitcoin produced during this last month was 318, 28% less than the same month last year. While the companies publicly agreed to the shutdowns to preserve the grid, they also avoided spiking electricity prices during peak loads.
Higher revenue expected
The Texas Grid System has said that crypto miners will put a six-gigawatt demand on the network by next year.
Congressional Democrats have warned that the seven largest mining rigs in the US consume energy equivalent to all residential homes in the city of Houston.
Most Texas mining operations voluntarily shut down operations once the local price of energy on the ERCOT network exceeded $180 or more per megawatt hour, which would essentially incur a negative net cost to mine your bitcoin.