US Senator Elizabeth Warrenrequested information about its operations from the country’s first carbon-neutral Bitcoin miner.
In a letter to Jeff Kirt, CEO of Greenidge Generation Holdings, he formally requested information about the company’s power generation and Bitcoin mining operations in New York State. This information; The company said it was necessary to understand the potential impact on climate change, the local environment and the cost of electricity for retail consumers.
“Given the extraordinarily high energy use and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining, mining operations at Greenidge and other facilities raise concerns about their impact on the global environment, local ecosystems and consumer electricity costs,” the letter said.
Warren, who is known to be against crypto assets, is focused on a specific company this time and seems to be forcing the company to disclose information. Crypto mining, which runs out of energy equivalent to the energy consumption of some major industrialized countries, has been much more discussed lately.
Reply from Greenidge
Greenidge gave a succinct response, stating that “the facility will generate requested information to demonstrate that it meets all of New York’s nation-leading environmental standards, brings economic opportunity to an underserved region of the state, and is a model for crypto mining.”
Listed on the Nasdaq earlier this year Greenidgeis being promoted as the first carbon-neutral Bitcoin mining in the US after establishing its first facility in Dresden, New York, powered by natural gas. In addition to purchasing carbon offsets, the company, controlled by Atlas Holdings, plans to use zero and low carbon electricity sources for future mining operations such as in South Carolina.
The addressees of the demands from Congress are no longer just miners. Earlier this week, the House Financial Services Committee asked several top executives of cryptocurrency-related companies to testify before them. Among those summoned are Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of crypto exchange FTX, and Brian Brooks, former CEO of Binance.US.