Tesla, Block and Blockstream merge to mine bitcoin
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Adam Beck's Blockstream, Jack Dorsey's Block (formerly Square) and Ilon Musk's Tesla have teamed up to create a shared bitcoin mining venture.
Blockstream and Block have begun building a mining farm in Texas that will run on solar power. The units will be powered by a Tesla solar modular battery called Megapack, which is designed for large-scale green energy storage.
Blockstream co-founder and CEO and renowned cipher punk Adam Beck told CNBC at the Miami Bitcoin 2022 conference that the facility is designed to prove the concept of green BTC mining capability.
People like to discuss various factors related to bitcoin mining. We just decided to prove it. We will make an open dashboard, Beck said.
The dashboard will show real-time performance metrics for the project, including farm capacity and the number of bitcoins mined. A later version of the dashboard will show solar and storage performance data.
This move will validate the thesis that bitcoin mining can fund a zero-emission energy infrastructure and contribute to economic growth in the future, Beck said.
West Texas has an active renewable energy sector because of the high number of sunny days and high wind speeds. But much of the energy is concentrated in remote regions, and without financial incentives, it doesn't make sense to use it. Mining is a good way to spend green energy with economic benefits.
A mining farm is expected to be built by the end of the year. If the project proves profitable, the companies plan to scale it up by starting to use wind power as well.