The New York Occasions has as soon as once more printed an inflammatory bitcoin mining story stuffed with misinformation. Though main Bitcoin researchers have been fast to dismiss the knowledge and knowledge as biased and false, the article stays on-line in an effort to push BTC right into a local weather sinner’s nook.
Considered one of Bitcoin’s main environmentalists and researchers, Daniel Batten, has set aside the New York Occasions article and knowledge to the core, revealing that the article lacks journalistic integrity. As Batten mentioned at size on Twitter, the mainstream publication solely chosen knowledge that matches its motto “Bitcoin is dangerous.”
Remarkably, this is not the primary time the Bitcoin and crypto group has been enraged by The New York Occasions. The publication was closely criticized late final yr for publishing a “breathless love letter” to Sam Bankman-Fried, despite the fact that his billion-dollar fraud had lengthy since come to mild.
Bitcoin Activist units the file straight
For Bitcoin mining insiders, it’s already apparent at first look that the NY Occasions article can’t be trusted. The NY Occasions chart of prime BTC miners is grossly inaccurate, as reported by Batten, who collected actual knowledge over an 8-month interval.
Based on Batten, the NY Occasions article overestimates the emission ranges of mining corporations Riot, Atlas, Cipher Mining, US Bitcoin Corp, Rhodium and Bitdeer by a median of 81.7%. Furthermore, there may be ample proof that the NY Occasions has massively chosen knowledge to help its thesis.
For instance, there are at present 26 mining corporations in the USA and Canada that use greater than 90% sustainable vitality. Of those, the NY Occasions included solely two in its knowledge (Cleanspark and Terawulf). Inside these two websites, the journalists targeted on the least energy-consuming websites and uncared for these which are primarily renewable.
“It is a cherry choosing initially: a cherry choosing inside a cherry choosing,” Batten mentioned, including that “the article is replete with such transgressions of true goal reporting.”
Moreover, Batten accuses the publication of claiming nothing constructive in regards to the “demand response program,” wherein Bitcoin miners play an important function for community operators by with the ability to restrict their energy consumption to brief time period throughout community instabilities. Batton says:
The NY Occasions article makes an attempt to create the impression that Bitcoin miners are costing residents cash by taking a reduce in “demand response” income. By hiding the context, their angle is designed to create ethical outrage for one thing that’s essential for the steadiness of the community.
However that is not all. Based on Batten, there are a complete of 9 indicators that reveal bias within the alleged investigation. Amongst them is the truth that vitality trade officers haven’t any say. Prior to now, they’ve repeatedly acknowledged that BTC Mining promotes the growth of renewable vitality and stabilizes the community.
GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: “#Bitcoins mining is sweet for the community. pic.twitter.com/WgFQPg6Xtj
—Dennis Porter (@Dennis_Porter_) November 27, 2022
“No goal evaluation of the advantages to the renewable vitality shopper and operator of setting a value flooring for all variable renewables in order that renewable vitality exploitation can scale sooner (because it has made at >4% every year in ERCOT since 2021)”, Batten added.
Moreover, there may be additionally no goal reference to earlier studies (together with CNBC) on how BTC mining stabilized networks throughout winter storms. Information from community operators Lancium and ERCOT confirming this can’t be discovered.
Likewise, no goal proof could be discovered that BTC mining has a built-in financial incentive to be a non-competitive shopper of electrical energy.
An government at mining firm Riot Platforms echoed Batten’s criticism. Vice President Pierre Rochard hit again at The New York Occasions to set the file straight relating to the misinformation about his firm within the article.
Based on the NY Occasions, Riot’s Rockdale, Texas mining operation makes use of roughly the identical quantity of electrical energy as the following 300,000 houses, “making it probably the most electricity-intensive Bitcoin mining operation in America”.
Rochard referred to as on the NY Occasions to launch the methodology and the simulation to disclose how the info was calculated.
NYTimes couldn’t hassle to confirm the primary sentence of their #Bitcoins mining merchandise.
They do not care about their credibility, they simply wish to rip-off their readers into believing lies. https://t.co/06lpNjRiGg
– Pierre Rochard (@BitcoinPierre) April 10, 2023
As reported by , Daniel Batten has simply printed new analysis indicating that the principle vitality supply for BTC mining is hydroelectricity, which accounts for 23% of the full vitality. Fossil fuels have declined a complete of 6.2% per yr since January 2020. Total, Bitcoin is probably the most sustainable trade on this planet.
At press time, Bitcoin value stood at $28,282, nonetheless consolidating under the important thing resistance zone at $28,600.
Featured picture from iStock, chart from TradingView.com
