Argo, the leading company in the world of mining, has just acquired two very special data centres. The data centres come from Quebec and are powered by hydraulic energy. This purchase is yet another step forward in the mining company’s many objectives. Its aim is to make the technology sector a little greener.
Bitcoin needs to be mined in an environmentally friendly way, as a good number of companies have been trying to do recently. This is why Argo has taken the initiative. It was announced in a press release issued by the London Stock Exchange earlier this week.
Mining and ecology, the difficulties
Miner
centre for mining
Mining is a highly complex activity. Mining involves performing a series of complicated algebraic operations. It requires perfect mastery and knowledge on the part of the miner. Miners are generally paid for the operations they carry out. By validating transactions and adding them to the blocks of the blockchain, the miner can be paid very generously. Sometimes they don’t get paid so much; in fact, it all depends on the speed of their operations. There can be a huge number of miners wanting to mine an operation that could make them a lot of money. The objective is therefore to be the fastest to carry out the mining process. Operations must therefore be processed very quickly, one after the other.
Mining, a very energy-intensive activity
The big problem with mining at the moment is that it consumes a huge amount of electricity. To mine, miners use powerful computers or the latest energy-guzzling technology. What’s more, they need a very large Internet connection and cryptographic cards. From an environmental point of view, mining is not a trivial job. In fact, thanks to mining, it is possible to heat an entire room in the middle of winter, thanks to the heat given off by the computer tools.
However, today it is an essential sector for the hundreds of blockchains that exist on the market. Very few cryptocurrencies are sold, bought or traded using a decentralised network that does not undermine. The challenge is therefore to combine a high-performance mining business with a commitment to the environment. The proof, thanks to the purchase of the two data centres, is that these two worlds are not incompatible.
Data centres in the mining process
The two data centres purchased by Argo are currently home to a very large proportion of the company’s mining tools. They have a storage capacity of 20 megawatts. A data centre is quite simply a data centre. They can be internal or external to the company, owned by the company itself or by service providers. Argo’s data centres are located in China and belong to the company. They therefore contain a very large database, essential for the company’s mining activities. The hydraulic energy used to keep the data centres running must therefore be up to the task. As already mentioned, mining is a key activity, and everything depends on this stage for the blockchain and its services to function properly. Argo is therefore betting big, but is confident in this very promising initiative and guarantees good support for the future of cryptocurrencies.
Argo and its activities
The mining company was founded in 2017. In fact, it was the first cryptocurrency company to be listed on the London Stock Exchange. Argo offers a completely unique concept on the crypto market. Using our own computer or mobile phone, we can mine a huge number of cryptocurrencies. The company’s co-founder has even stated that they would like to become the “Amazon of crypto-currency services”.
The current CEO is CEO Peter Wall. In fact, in response to the company’s purchase, he said, “Argo’s purchase of the data centres in Canada represents another important step for the company as we look to better control our mining output and operating costs, while having a solid foundation for long-term growth.”
Cryptocurrencies and green energy
The issue here comes down to corporate returns. Coal is an energy widely used by businesses because the returns are low, as is its heavy ecological impact. It’s only recently that the ecological footprints left by the activities of cryptocurrencies and blockchains are causing concern. In fact, it was not even an issue in recent years. We can therefore only encourage major companies to change their activities to ensure an environmentally compatible future for crypto. Just recently, it was the big names in business and new technologies such as, Elon Musk, who spoke out on the subject.
Elon Musk, between crypto and ecological awareness
The founder and CEO of Tesla, who is convinced that crypto-currencies are of great interest, recently made a number of announcements on Twitter. So it was on the big blue bird social network that the businessman declared his company’s big change in activity. Last February, Tesla invested nearly 1.5 billion dollars in Bitcoin. He also mentioned the possibility of buying a car using Bitcoin in the near future. This was already possible in the United States in March.
However, on 13 May this year, he reversed his decision to stop investing in cryptocurrencies. He said he had informed himself about the environmental concerns surrounding the crypto sphere. So here’s the message posted on Twitter that Thursday:
“Tesla has suspended purchases of vehicles using Bitcoin. We are concerned about the increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, particularly coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel. Crypto-currency is a good idea on many levels and we think it has a bright future, but it can’t cost the environment. Tesla won’t be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining switches to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other crypto-currencies that use <1% of the energy / transactions of Bitcoin.”
Perhaps he should look into Solarcoin?
