HOW STARLINK CHANGES BITCOIN MINING AND IMPROVES DECENTRALIZATION
ReadStarlink may be the missing piece for mining decentralization to reach the far ends of the Earth where energy is cheap but internet access is lacking.
This is an opinion editorial by El Sultan Bitcoin, former CEO at Coinspree and current Latin America product marketing manager at Ledn.
HOW MINING DECENTRALIZATION CAN BE INCENTIVIZED
Over a year has elapsed since the great bitcoin mining migration began, when the network experienced a 60%-plus reduction in hash rate due to the Chinese Communist Party’s attack on bitcoin mining. The aftermath of China’s mining ban equated to the United States absorbing a greater part of the hash power that used to be located in mainland China. Hash rate recovered and reached all-time highs again. No questions arise regarding Bitcoin’s resilience here. However, one may ask how network and mining decentralization can be fostered to limit the impact of similar attacks on Bitcoin.
LACK OF INTERNET ACCESS IS A HINDRANCE IN REMOTE LOCATIONS
Even though mining is an activity spread across the globe, miners flock to locations based mainly on energy costs. As covered by Nic Carter, energy is a local phenomenon. Highly concentrated energy production sites are typically located in remote areas; Quebec, Canada and Sichuan, China, are both great examples of this. Here, the installed hydro capacity exceeds the demand for electricity, and since energy is not an easily transportable commodity, producers with excess capacity find themselves wishing for alternative buyers or assuming wasted energy from their operations. In essence, this is why wasted energy is miners’ platonic love. Under the form of a jurisdiction-neutral bidder, bitcoin miners can be buyers of last resort to monetize stranded energy.