US winter storms cause Bitcoin hashrate to drop 35%

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Bitcoin’s hashrate plummeted 35% in 24 hours as several miners in the United States shut down their machines due to severe winter storms in the country.

According to BTC.com, the hashrate fell to 156 PE/s on December 24. Over the previous 14 days, the average hashrate was 237 PE/s. Winter storms in the United States have already led to the cancellation of thousands of flights.

The effects of storms, such as power outages, also meant Bitcoin miners had to shut down. Website tracker reports PowerOutage, said more than 1.4 million homes and businesses are in the dark.

As energy providers urge conservation of electricity, it’s no surprise Bitcoin miners are also shutting down. However, the hashrate appears to have picked up and is now at 234.26 EH/s at press time.

Texas Miners voluntarily closes operations

But the significant drop in hashrate has raised questions about the centralization of Bitcoin mining and what that might mean for the network. Satoshi Act Fund CEO Dennis Porter noted that the network was working as expected. He compared this with big tech companies such as Amazon and Google, noting that if a third of their data centers went offline, the impact would be very different.

Porter, citing data center operator Lancium’s decision to shut down operations, added that it was proof that miners are good for the network.

Bitcoin miners have once again voluntarily cut power during an extreme weather event in Texas.

Bitcoin miners are good for the network. pic.twitter.com/kpCzkZVerM

— Dennis Porter (@Dennis_Porter_) December 24, 2022

Since China banned Bitcoin mining in 2021, the United States has played an increasingly prominent role in Bitcoin mining. Several miners are based in Texas due to its cheap electricity and favorable regulations – these mining companies tend to shut down when the demand from the grid increases massively.

Meanwhile, FutureBit founder John Stefanop said the hashrate going offline was due to highly centralized miners.

According to him, the Bitcoin network is too dependent on weather and geological disturbances. Due to weather events in the United States alone, transactions are now 30% slower on the Bitcoin network. He added:

“If the hashrate was distributed evenly around the world by tens of millions of small miners instead of a few tens of massive mines, this event wouldn’t even have registered on the network.”

BTC price performance

Over the past 24 hours, BTC is down 0.05% to $16,832 at press time. According to available data, the flagship digital asset has enjoyed huge patronage from retail investors who have found the current price of the asset attractive. On the other hand, Bitcoin whales sold off their holdings due to the bear market situation.

Source: CoinMarketcapDisclaimer

BeInCrypto has reached out to a company or individual involved in the story for an official statement on recent developments, but has yet to receive a response.

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