Q4 Bitcoin Mining Council Survey Confirms Improvements in Sustainable Power Mix and Technological Efficiency

AUSTIN, TEXAS – JANUARY 18, 2022 — The Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC), a voluntary global forum of Bitcoin mining companies and other companies in the Bitcoin industry, announced the findings of its fourth quarter 2021 (“Q4”) survey focused on three metrics: electricity consumption, technological efficiency and sustainable power mix. Importantly, as part of the Q4 2021 data collection, the BMC has excluded renewable energy credits (REC) from the “sustainable power” definition going forward.

The BMC revealed that it successfully collected sustainable energy information from over 46% of the global Bitcoin network, as of December 31, 2021, in its latest voluntary sector survey. The results of this survey show that the members of the BMC and participants in the survey are currently utilizing electricity with a 66.1% sustainable power mix. Based on this data it is estimated that the global mining industry’s sustainable electricity mix had grown to approximately 58.5%, during Q4 2021, up 1% from Q3 2021, making it one of the most sustainable industries globally. In Q4, the global Bitcoin Network’s estimated technological efficiency grew by 9%, from Q3 2021, to 19.3 petahash per MW.

Moreover, the publication of this data represents the third quarterly release by the BMC, which was founded in May 2021 with support from some of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the Bitcoin industry along with MicroStrategy and its CEO, Michael Saylor.

“This quarter we saw the trend continue with dramatic improvements to Bitcoin mining energy efficiency & sustainability due to advances in semiconductor technology, the rapid expansion of North American mining, the China Exodus, and worldwide rotation toward sustainable energy & modern mining techniques.” said Mr. Saylor.

Darin Feinstein, co-founder of Core Scientific and the BMC stated, “BMC participating membership hashrate increased 77% from Q3 to Q4 2021, reinforcing that the digital mining sector is recognizing the valuable data that the BMC is bringing to light around the reality of how we operate in a sustainable way.”