Popular Bitcoin expert and author, Andreas Antonopoulos suggests that Bitcoin miners in the USA may become more competitive and profitable in the future. He bases his prediction on the slide in oil prices.
The surplus in oil supply has led to the price of the commodity falling below a dollar a gallon. In the same period, the demand for oil has dropped significantly. Full oil tankers have been waiting for takers on the coast of major refineries in North America and Asia.
According to Antonopoulos Bitcoin mining costs in the USA have reduced due to the fall in oil prices which have caused a fall in the costs of electricity.
Meanwhile, China’s cost of electricity has decreased at a slower rate than in the USA. This is due to the fact that the nation relies more on coal for power than the USA.
Antonopolous says,
“One of the biggest new mining operations opened in the United States in the state of Texas, and I can’t imagine that that is a coincidence. It opened long before this crisis and change in the oil price, but I can’t imagine that it was in order to get the beautiful weather of Texas or because of Tex-Mex cuisine. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that the US at 12,000 barrels per day is the largest oil producer in the world because of fracking. Therefore, there may be really good opportunities for cheap power which would suddenly make US-based miners much, much more competitive and profitable.”
Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a bitcoin advocate, tech entrepreneur, and author. He hosts a Bitcoin-focused podcast called Let’s Talk Bitcoin. He is also a teaching fellow for the M.Sc Digital Currencies at the University of Nicosia.
