Thread
1) Here is actor @ben_mckenzie, testifying before @SenateBanking—with zero expertise on energy markets, Demand Response or mining—that #Bitcoin mining is "bad," raises energy prices for all consumers and that residents are "upset." Let's unpack why all of these points are wrong.
2) First, that @SenateBanking chose to call an actor, with no expertise on the relevant subject, as a witness suggests that the hearing was a political propaganda campaign. McKenzie is in the process of making a biased documentary, which will apparently also lack nuance. 
3) The idea that #Bitcoin mining is an "inefficient" technology and therefore needs to be stopped is nonsensical. If it were as inefficient as claimed, there would be no need to stop it since more efficient technologies would outcompete it in the market and easily replace it.
4) @ben_mckenzie avoids mentioning that ERCOT, the Texas grid, is isolated and therefore is *required* to have excess energy that needs to be consumed by large scale flexible customers who are willing to pay for that excess energy in an open market. slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/08/why-texas-has-its-own-power-grid.html
5) Buying energy that would otherwise go wasted, for computation, officially classifies #Bitcoin miners as a beneficial Large Flexible Loads (LFLs) by the ERCOT grid. A recent ERCOT study showed miners were essential to its Demand Response strategy. news.bitcoin.com/applied-direct-response-ercot-study-shows-bitcoin-mining-is-beneficial-to-the-texas-...
6) As Demand Response consumers, miners purchase wholesale energy in advance and buy private insurance products that incentivize them to turn off their machines when prices rise—thus balancing the grid and its prices, while increasing grid reliability.
7) Isolating escalating power prices to ONE load in a deregulated wholesale market ignores the recent 3X in NatGas prices, the recent build out of over 10GWs of solar and Texas load growth from non-mining customers, such as the @Tesla Gigafactory. www.teslarati.com/tesla-gigafactory-texas-3k-model-y-per-week/
8) While the @Tesla Gigafactory may be considered a more productive use of energy, it is not nearly as flexible at Demand Response as miners. Miners de-risk excess renewable power and will instantly shut down for high consumer demand when prices rise.
9) The US Department of @ENERGY explains that Demand Response technologies are beneficial for "balancing supply and demand" and says "such programs can lower the cost of electricity in wholesale markets, and in turn, lead to lower retail rates." 
10) @ben_mckenzie claims that local residents of Rockdale, Texas are "upset" about @WhinstoneUS mining replacing the abandoned Alcoa aluminum plant. In reality, it is a net positive for the struggling community, local tax collection and grid stability. www.governing.com/community/a-small-town-in-texas-turns-to-bitcoin-mining-to-survive.html
11) @SenTinaSmith asks if the technology becomes "more and more energy intensive over time," to which @ben_mckenzie agrees and declares is "bad." This is misleading. The energy required for mining is tied to demand for the technology, in a highly competitive market.
12) Using energy to remove the need for equity-based governance (a key problem with the rest of "crypto" discussed in the hearing) is not "bad." It's literally breakthrough technology that has many applications for energy innovation we are discovering.
13) No one among the @SenateBanking witnesses were even aware, or cared, that #Bitcoin is on track to becoming CO₂e carbon negative by 2024, by mitigating CH₄ methane emissions.
14) No one in the @SenateBanking hearing was aware that #Bitcoin can monetize new sources of carbon-negative energy production, such as monetizing landfill gas and carbon capture. In time, these stranded sources of energy will become part of our future grid. 
15) Nor do they care that #Bitcoin can bring clean baseload power to 1 billion people, in developing nations, by monetizing stranded pilot plants that would be too expensive to test, prove and scale on a highly competitive grid. bitcoinmagazine.com/business/bitcoin-unlocks-ocean-energy
16) These political thespians don't care that #Bitcoin mitigates waste methane emissions from Oil and Gas pads where there is no other use for waste CH₄, which would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere and would heavily contribute to warming forces.
17) To them, #Bitcoin is "bad" simply because people having the *voluntary option* for a digital sound money, without counterparty risk, threatens their politics. If anything is evident it's that there was zero effort to ascertain nuance or truth. It was pure political theater.
18) While American politicians and Hollywood actors collaborate in political propaganda, the rest of the world is capitalizing on #Bitcoin for energy innovation. In Japan🇯🇵, TEPCO recently announced it is mining Bitcoin with surplus energy. www.nasdaq.com/articles/japans-largest-power-company-tepco-to-mine-bitcoin-with-excess-energy
