Bitcoin mining capital floods into the electricity low tide: Cheap power is becoming the new "hot commodity"

Electricity is no longer the exclusive domain of factories but has become the most fiercely contested resource among Bitcoin miners. Unlike traditional heavy industries that chase cheap labor, a new wave of Bitcoin mining is surging toward wasted electricity. Data shows that over 41% of Bitcoin blocks now come from U.S. mining pools, reflecting a global shift of computing power toward regions with cheap energy.

From China’s Rainy Season to U.S. Dominance: Rewriting the Geopolitical Map of Hashrate

Times change. The cheap hydropower during China’s rainy season once attracted miners worldwide, but now the United States has become the new hub for mining. Why? Not labor costs, but electricity costs.

The requirements for mining equipment are extremely simple: a warehouse, a few staff, ASIC machines, and stable broadband connection. The output? Pure block rewards, without physical transportation. This model allows miners to swarm any idle energy site abandoned by traditional industries—gas fields, wind farms, surplus solar areas. When local policies shift or electricity prices fluctuate, they can quickly move in.

Electricity Surplus as “Invisible Subsidy”: Miners’ Frenzy

Data from California Independent System Operator (CAISO) reveals a startling phenomenon: in 2023, 3.4 TWh of solar and wind energy was wasted, a 30% increase from the previous year. By early 2024, the loss reached 2.4 TWh. When electricity has nowhere to go and prices even turn negative, power generators are forced to pay the grid to consume electricity.

Miners have sensed the opportunity. Riot Platforms received $71 million in electricity subsidies in Texas last year, an amount exceeding the current value of Bitcoin mined at the time. By early 2025, the company had secured $46 million in subsidies, successfully turning the grid’s “troubles” into hefty profits. Soluna directly installed modular data centers at wind farms, while Crusoe in remote Texas areas consumes natural gas that would otherwise be flared.

Global Expansion: Driven by Electricity, Not Labor

Bhutan partnered with Bitdeer to build a 100 MW hydropower mining farm locally, paying energy costs through a clean blockchain approach. Kentucky’s government outright eliminated sales tax on mining electricity. El Salvador ambitiously plans a Bitcoin city powered by volcanic geothermal energy.

Innovations in energy utilization are also flooding in. Marathon Digital is piloting heat recovery technology in Finland, channeling waste heat from mining rigs into regional heating systems. Some areas in Norway even use waste heat from mining farms to dry seaweed. Grid operators particularly welcome flexible loads like Lancium—able to be quickly shut down during heatwaves—making them ideal for demand response.

A 2023 study indicates that Bitcoin mining has indeed promoted investments in renewable energy, but its environmental benefits depend on miners being as flexible as dancers, ready to adjust at any moment.

Future Boundaries: Electricity Over Labor, Hashrate Over Ports

Compared to AI data centers’ obsession with low latency, Bitcoin mining adopts a “downtime? Who cares” attitude. This determines vastly different geographic distributions: AI stays in fiber-dense cities, while Bitcoin floods into remote areas with abundant electricity but sparse population.

Industry observers make a bold prediction: by 2035, a map reshaped by hashrate will fundamentally rewrite the landscape—traditional industrial clusters may be torn apart, and new frontiers of computing power will flourish in regions with ample electricity, good fiber connectivity, and friendly policies. City skylines might only feature substations and night-shift coffee shops, while vast remote areas awaken due to cheap power.

The logic behind this migration is simple: in the digital economy era, the value of electricity resources is being re-priced, and the frontier of computing power is seeking the next abandoned watt around the globe.