Bitcoin Miner Riot Blockchain Shuts Down Ahead Of Texas Winter Storm

Bitcoin BTC/USD mining firm Riot Blockchain Inc RIOT has shut down 99% of its operations in Texas as Winter Storm Landon approaches.

What Happened: Riot voluntarily began to reduce power at its Bitcoin mining facility in Whinstone to conserve energy before the storm hits, according to a report from Bloomberg.

The Whinstone facility reportedly uses enough electricity to power 60,000 homes in the state.

Although Riot is the biggest Bitcoin miner in Texas, it is not the only crypto mining operation in the state that will be turning off power to conserve energy.

Minnesota-based data center and crypto mining service provider Compute North said it’s prepared to shut down an 11 megawatt Texas site.

“If we are needed to come down to maintain stability, we are fully ready, willing, and able to curtail the entirety of our load if needed,” said Peter Liska, the director of energy at Compute North.

Texas-based Rhodium also joined the Bitcoin miners opting to power down their operations.

Texas based Bitcoin miners are curtailing their load starting TODAY to help provide excess power reserves for #WinterStormLandon. We are proud to help stabilize the grid and help our fellow Texans stay warm. #Bitcoin@txblockchain1

— Nathan Nichols (@Nathannichols) February 2, 2022

Price Action: At press time, RIOT was trading 3.76% lower at $14.99. Meanwhile, the overall crypto market saw a 2.68% decrease in the last day. Bitcoin was trading at $36,767.13, down 1.87% Thursday at publication.

Photo by John Waco Jr. on Unsplash