Argo Blockchain joins Bitcoin Mining Council By Investing.com

By Samuel Indyk

Investing.com – Argo Blockchain has today announced it has joined the newly formed Bitcoin Mining Council. The Bitcoin Mining Council aims to collectively promote energy transparency and improve sustainable mining practices.

The council was formed after a meeting chaired by MicroStrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR) co-founder Michael Saylor and attended by Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk. The meeting included other North American cryptocurrency miners who discussed various ESG issues related to Bitcoin mining.

Other companies represented at the meeting included Galaxy Digital (TSX:GLXY), Hut 8 (TSX:HUT_t), Marathon (NASDAQ:MARA), HIVE (TSXV:HIVE), Core Scientific, Blockcap, and Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT).

“Sustainability has always been at the heart of Argo’s mining operations and the newly-formed Bitcoin Mining Council is the next logical step in fostering a sectoral shift towards renewable energy,” Argo Blockchain PLC (LON:ARB) CEO Peter Wall said in a statement.

“I enjoyed speaking with Elon Musk about these issues this weekend, and look forward to joining Michael Saylor and other leading North American miners in working to future-proof an industry that must collectively improve sustainable mining practices and take ESG concerns seriously.”

Environmental Problem

The environmental damage caused by Bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining and transactions became mainstream last week when Musk tweeted that Tesla would stop accepting Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles, citing the energy used.

Some estimates suggest that the Bitcoin network uses as much energy as a country such as the Netherlands or Argentina, with much of the mining taking place in China where fossil fuels are mainly used to power the grid.

However, Musk received some kickback from prominent backers of cryptocurrencies including ARK Invest’s Cathie Wood and billionaire Mark Cuban.

“We know that replacing gold as a store of value will help the environment,” Cuban tweeted.

After meeting with the mining companies, Elon Musk said the group had committed to publish current and planned renewable usage and to ask miners worldwide to do so. Musk added that this would be “potentially promising”.

Argo’s Green Credentials

Argo Blockchain has been at the forefront of trying to mine cryptocurrencies in a sustainable way. Earlier this month, the London-listed miner said it has signed the Crypto Climate Accord to promote the decarbonisation of the cryptocurrency industry.

The miner also recently announced it had bought two data centres that were powered almost entirely by hydro power.

At 09:17BST, shares in Argo Blockchain were trading higher by 11.7% at 131.8 pence per share.