The Russian government has banned crypto mining in ten regions for a period of six years, according to reporting by the state-owned news agency Tass. Russia has cited the industry’s high power consumption rates as the primary reason behind the ban. Crypto is particularly power-hungry, as mining operations already account for nearly 2.5 percent of US energy use.
heartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point
The fact that they’re spending money with a ban instead of raising money with a pigouvian tax tells us that they don’t just want to save resources.
My conspiracy theory: the Russian economy is on the brink of collapse. The government is worried that its subjects will abandon the Ruble, and a mine is a huge source of money that people can use to flee the country or defect.
Seems like a terrible thing to invest in.
It gets more difficult as it goes along, requiring more power, more hardware, more energy…
At some point doesn’t it break some kind of negative even, no matter how good you’re doing? Eventually, it would have to be worth an extravagant amount to make it worth mining.
Isn’t it a straight shot right into the garbage at base value?
The “difficulty” of the problem being solved automatically adjusts.
