MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor responded to comments by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren on a New York Times piece about bitcoin mining.
#Bitcoin miners decrease the energy bill for millions of American families and do not create pollution. They are data centers running on excess electricity that would otherwise be wasted, and perform the vital role of powering the most secure computer network in the world.
— Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) April 18, 2023
In a piece titled Real Costs of the Bitcoin Digital Race the cryptocurrency mining industry was accused of “insatiable appetite” for electricity, impact on tariff increases, unwarranted payouts for outages, and the use of energy sources with a carbon footprint.
Referring to data cited in the article, Warren said that Bitcoin miners “increase electricity bills” for millions of American households and emit pollutants equivalent to 3.5 million cars powered by ICE.
Bitcoin mines are increasing energy bills for millions of American families while enriching crypto executives — and causing as much pollution as an additional 3.5 million gas-powered cars. An alarming @nytimes report.https://t.co/MmXUu2eQbE
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) April 17, 2023
The politician described the journalists’ conclusions as “alarming” and noted that the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency should exercise their powers regarding the carbon emissions generated by miners.
Saylor responded that cryptocurrency mining activity does not drive up electricity bills or pollute the environment.
“These data centres run on surplus energy that would otherwise be wasted, and perform a vital role in maintaining the world’s most secure computer network,” said the well-known advocate of digital gold.
Earlier, the NYT piece was criticised by the community. In Riot Platforms, named in the article as the largest publicly traded miner, called it “full of distortions and outright lies” — a politically motivated attack on the industry.
The company said that the authors ignored pre-provided data and published knowingly false and misleading information.
As reported in 2021, Riot, alongside MicroStrategy became one of eight founding members of the Bitcoin Mining Council, an organisation focused on green mining.