BTC miner Riot Platforms responds to White House OSTP request for information

Riot Platforms, a bitcoin (BTC) only mining firm in the United States, has responded to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s (OSTP) request for information (RFI) on bitcoin, the transactional blockchain network that’s also the world’s largest by market capitalization.

Riot Platforms responds to White House OSTP’s RFI

In a tweet shared by Pierre Rochard, the vice president of research at Riot Platforms, the bitcoin miner provided important details they claim to have learned about the Bitcoin invention. These spanned from the “tremendous” value the network has brought, including how it has benefited the grid. Their submission also touched on the differences between Bitcoin’s proof of work consensus system and the staking method used by, among other public chains, Algorand, Ethereum, and Cardano. 

The White House OSTP RFI on Bitcoin was part of the Federal research agenda. Typically, these agendas are intentional and long-term. As part of their execution, programs and tools are rolled out and built toward addressing a research goal. 

A crypto and blockchain framework in the United States

On Jan. 26, in a document previewed by the Federal Register, the White House OSTP invited public comments as it seeks to develop the National Digital Assets Research and Development Agenda following President Biden’s executive order, “Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,” issued in March 2022. This agenda was announced in September 2022 upon the creation of the Comprehensive Framework for Responsible Development of Digital Assets.  

The overarching objective of this agenda is to create a government-driven effort to develop digital assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT). Comments received from the public help them identify their agenda priorities which will directly trigger fundamental research and continue to support important research that goes a long way in creating technological breakthroughs that will see the launch of market-ready products. 

Interested parties and members of the public ought to have submitted relevant documents by March 2023, of which Riot Platform contributed their feedback.

In February 2023, Riot Platforms produced 675 BTC, pushing their total holdings to 7,058 BTC. They also sold 600 BTC in February, netting $14.2m.