Terawulf, a bitcoin miner using nuclear power, releases update; benefiting from low electricity costs

In a recent statement, Terawulf announced its bitcoin mining update months after launching a first-of-its-kind nuclear-powered Nautilus facility in the United States.

Terawulf electricity costs advantage

According to Terawulf, they actualized their goal of adding an extra 8,000 rigs to increase its capacity and currently accommodates 16,000 self-miners while running on 50 MW of power in a five-year agreement with the power generator. 

At the same time, they delivered a gross margin of 63%. However, at the moment, they have a blended electricity cost of $0.028//kWh, pushing their gross margin to 77%. 

The company intends to increase its mining capacity by an extra 50 MW but will eventually scale to 300 MW.

Notably, the facility is the first in history to utilize nuclear power for mining Bitcoin. The crypto mining sector is being criticized for its high energy consumption and its effect on the environment. 

Bitcoin is increasingly going green

Bitcoin runs on a proof-of-work consensus to validate transactions and secure the network. Hence, a considerable amount of computing power is needed. 

This results in the high use of electrical energy that environmentalists say is drawn from fossil energy. 

However, data shows that bitcoin and crypto miners increasingly use green sources such as solar and hydropower.  

Data from Digiconomist shows that the Bitcoin Consumption Index currently stands at 104.95 TWh, comparable to the power consumed in Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, the carbon footprint is 58.54 Mt CO2, the same as Libya’s. 

Even so, estimates show that Bitcoin power consumption has dropped over the past year. This, in turn, means carbon emissions will fall, a net positive for the industry and the Bitcoin network. 

Terawulf aims to reduce the harmful emissions of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.