This year, the most popular cryptocurrency has turned 13 and has brought pleasant news to go with it. The Bitcoin network is more secure than ever before. If an attacker wanted to attack the Bitcoin network, he would need two years with 100% of the current hashrate. The security of the network has of course to do with the proof-of-work that distributes the security to the many computer units around the world. In addition, the hashrate has now returned to the level it was before China shut down.
In addition, this year there will be arguably the biggest Bitcoin event ever in Miami, Florida. The event, called Bitcoin 2022, is scheduled to take place between April 6-9.
Good news, if you want to say so, but quietly a kind of counter-movement against Bitcoin is getting started, which had already started last year in China. Bitcoin, which works on the proof-of-work system, is therefore considered a massive consumer of electricity, which is why many countries have started to cut off the power supply for Bitcoin farms. The movement started last year in China, which imposed a ban on mining cryptocurrencies. At the time, China was known as one of the main pillars of the Bitcoin mining community. After its crackdown, many farms fled to other countries such as Kazakhstan or the U.S. We have already explained in a separate article that Bitcoin mining actually accounts for only a fraction of global energy consumption. Now Kazakhstan and Kosovo have also said they will cut off the power to Bitcoin farms because of the high power consumption. According to information, this should prevent local power outages.
Is this the way to fight Bitcoin?
The security of the Bitcoin network is based on the proof-of-work system. The more computing units participate in the system, the more secure the network is against attacks. But what happens now if the countries where Bitcoin mining is the biggest ban it? If the large Bitcoin farms turn off the power or Bitcoin mining is banned, there is a threat of a reduction in security because computing units are disconnected from the network. The example of China has seen how the hashrate went down but could be restored because the mining was moved to other countries. But if all the countries in the world (even if unlikely) join forces and ban mining across the board, the consequences for the network could be dire.