The high energy prices burden people and the economy. A crypto company was able to make a virtue out of necessity. And still earn money with the energy saved.
Inflation has been rising steadily since the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Energy prices in particular are understandable concerns for citizens, business and politics. Crypto company Riot Blockchain also wanted to save money. And suddenly made more money with electricity than with the actual business.
The company announced this at the end of last week. Because the temperatures in the home country of Texas rose relentlessly in the summer heat, the operation of one’s own crypto systems became more and more expensive. The calculation of new coins, the so-called mining, generates a lot of heat, cooling the more than 40,000 computers was simply too expensive at times. So in July the system was temporarily shut down to save money and energy. And suddenly found himself in front of an unexpected source of income.
Unexpected earnings
Because the company does not buy its energy at constantly new prices, but has agreed long-term prices, it was unexpectedly left with a lot of cheap electricity. And made a hefty profit by feeding it back in at the market price.
According to its own statements, Riot received almost 9.5 million dollars in July from the sale of the electricity quotas. That’s more than the core business: With 318 newly created bitcoins, you only earned just under $ 6.8 million in the same period. Although that is 28 percent less than in the same period of the previous year, the electricity income still earned more money than a year ago.
Special situation in Texas
In the monthly report, CEO Jason Les is happy about the win, but emphasizes that the step was taken primarily to support the state. After years of inadequate maintenance, the Texas power grid is rather unstable. Last winter, extreme cold brought the grid to its knees in some cases. The heat and the additional need for air conditioning now threatened a similar situation.
“Because we buy our electricity very price-consciously, we were in the unique situation of supporting the energy authority and feeding energy back into the grid,” says Les, praising himself and his company.
Since the statement, however, the absurd amount of energy that mining consumes has also shown itself rather involuntarily: Compared to the previous year, Riot Blockchain calculated almost 120 Bitcoin less than last July. According to the statement, this freed up 11,717 kilowatt hours of electricity. Which, according to the company, equates to the average consumption of 13,121 Texas homes.
What:Riot Blockchain