The tech progress has given new notions to old words. The word “mining” is now associated in people’s minds both with traditional mining of minerals that are essential for our everyday existence such as coal, iron ore, and other metals and the cryptocurrencies, or crypto, the nascent phenomenon that has the potential to replace fiat money. Crypto mining, though it is not associated with mines, pits, heavy machinery, and a lot of labor, nevertheless leaves a rather heavy footprint as it requires a tremendous amount of electrical power consumed in the proof-of-work process.
Electricity generation, in turn, may rely on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas, i.e. the natural resources that are finite and cannot be replaced, and such sources as wind, sun, and hydro resources that are much cleaner as they have almost zero carbon emissions. Non-renewable or fossil resources need to be burned to generate electric power and in the process of burning they emit carbon gas, the main cause of the adverse climate change caused by human activity.
As power-hungry crypto mining keeps growing and so does the power consumption associated with it, the issue of the mining’s carbon footprint also becomes more acute. Mining companies, or miners, have been heavily criticized for polluting the atmosphere; as a result, the environmental rationale of crypto mining came under fire while sustainability of crypto mining operations has become a hot topic. One of the leaders of the industry’s sustainability effort is Bit Digital, a mining company that operates 38,475 specialized computers, the industry’s single largest fleet stationed across four US states and relying mainly on sustainable energy sources such as wind power and hydropower.
Bit Digital’s ASICs (advanced computers customized for bitcoin mining) have a 67-percent carbon-free footprint, which makes it one of the industry’s ‘greenest’ miners. This was achieved at the end of 2021, when Bit Digital’s entire computer fleet was relocated from mainland China to the US and transitioned to sustainable energy sources. The move was organized by Bit Digital’s management team including chief strategy officer Samir Tabar who had joined the company just before the China ban and is viewed by industry insiders as a true logistical feat.
Being a largely carbon-free crypto mining operation and with only 39 percent of its mining capacity up and running after the relocation, Bit Digital demonstrates healthy financials. Imagine how strong its performance will be after its entire computer fleet becomes fully deployed. . With plans to increase its number of miners by another 10,000, the company plans to have 100 percent of its computers up and running by June 2022. The company has signed hosting agreements that will allow it to continue growing its fleet and outperform its industry peers in terms of sustainability and financial performance. Another illustration of the company’s potential is the fact that its 2021 income from operations increased by nearly 900 % year-on-year; this was achieved against the backdrop of the company’s hardware migration from China to the US and a considerable downtime caused by it.
With all hosting arrangements and a robust power pipeline in place — 200MW contracted, enough to double the company’s mining fleet—to ensure future sustainable growth, Bit Digital’s future bodes well for early investors as the company stock is clearly undervalued and is poised for a healthy performance in the near future.
