Billion dollar investments have already fallen victim to this severe crypto winter, but it’s also making life much harder for those who mine bitcoin from their homes.
It’s been a disappointing year for these enthusiasts, who would ordinarily use GPU rigs to generate hundreds of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency each month, have seen their earnings fall and their expenses rise.
Michael Carter and Chris Vega, who are experts in mining bitcoin and providing advisory, shared their view on how the US community is faring.
Due to their smaller costs, at-home miners have an easier time being innovative than big businesses, according to a recent interview with Carter.
“Hobbyists are the ones coming up with fresh ideas and experimenting with new methods to reduce their prices.”
Bitcoin has lost over 70% of its value since hitting an all-time high in November, while the energy crisis is causing electricity prices to surge globally.
And because bitcoin pricing cannot be regulated by a single miner, they will have to think outside the box to control their utility costs.
According to the two gurus, some of these US miners are transferring their operations to other places with lower energy prices.
Electricity costs are set to rise another 5% in the US this summer, according to government figures.
But that masks a massive variation between states, with the US Chamber of Commerce forecasting a 16.4% rise in New England but only a 2.4% bump in the South-West.
According to US government statistics, electricity prices are expected to increase by an additional 5% this summer.
However, this conceals a significant regional disparity, with the US Chamber of Commerce projecting a 16.4% increase in New England but a mere 2.4% increase in the South-West.
According to Carter, many Americans are moving to states where electricity is less expensive.
“During a bad market, bitcoin miners tend to migrate a lot.”
According to Carter and some cryptocurrency miners are even thinking about moving to renewable energy sources to lower their electricity bills.
Vega, who operates large mining in Florida, claimed to have heard about miners switching to solar energy, while Carter claimed that some miners in the Midwest were relocating to states with abundant and lower cost wind energy, such Illinois or Missouri.
In the US, there are numerous incentives to embrace renewable energy, according to Carter.
“If you’re installing big solar panels, the government will pay for half of it, which may significantly help miners save costs.”
In the at-home mining world, though, some are selling old equipment to raise capital.
On second-hand sites like eBay, would-be crypto miners can pick up rigs for as little as $300.
Carter, who owns a larger mining company out of St. Louis, Missouri, also offers free advisory on YouTube, consults with other larger mining companies in Midwestern on business optimization.
Some home-miners are selling their old machines to raise working capital on eBay, where aspiring cryptocurrency miners can acquire the rigs for as low as $300.
According to the two tech fanatics, selling equipment would be difficult for long-time hobbyists.
However, those who purchased rigs in the run-up to the market highs experienced last year, might be looking for an easy way out from the cryptocurrency business.
“Many people in the mining space don’t want to sell their hardware,” crypto tech Vega was quoted.
“Sellers tend to be novices who entered the market when bitcoin was at its all-time high and purchased a lot of gear at absurdly high costs.”
Vega started a crypto mining venture as a teenager with his friends and it all began by “grabbing a bunch of laptops and piggybacking off grandma’s Wi-Fi.”
As it stands, it will be painful for him and Carter to watch the home-mining community suffer losses but, they are hopeful that these hobbyists would adjust their utilities’ costs in order endure the bear crypto market.
According to Vega, the mining environment is filled with people that give the sector their own special flair.
“I believe and believe that the people at the grassroots level will continue to win.”
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Author
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Zahari Rangelov is an experienced professional Forex trader and trading mentor with knowledge in technical and fundamental analysis, medium-term trading strategies, risk management and diversification. He has been involved in the foreign exchange markets since 2005, when he opened his first live account in 2007. Currently, Zahari is the Head of Sales & Business Development at TraderFactor's London branch. He provides lectures during webinars and seminars for traders on topics such as; Psychology of market participants’ moods, Investments & speculation with different financial instruments and Automated Expert Advisors & signal providers. Zahari’s success lies in his application of research-backed techniques and practices that have helped him become a successful forex trader, a mentor to many traders, and a respected authority figure within the trading community.
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