Miners are using cow manure to power Ethereum rigs, proving crypto is full of shit

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One of the inherent flaws in cryptocurrency is the amount of electricity that it needs to both ‘mine’ the currency and continually validate the blockchain to power transactions. To solve this, eco-friendly miners have turned to renewable energy sources, with one in the UK literally running their crypto mining operations on poop.

Yes, you read that correctly. Whatever your thoughts about cryptocurrency, this mining farm in North East Wales turns the methane produced by decomposing cow poop into energy, making it a completely renewable source of crypto riches.

The byproducts get used as fertilizer for the rest of the farm, and the electricity generated also powers the farm and a caravan park that’s situated on the farmlands.

Currently, the miners are focused on Ethereum, one of the higher-value cryptocurrencies that get ‘mined’ by running powerful mathematics on high-powered graphics cards. That’s also part of why you can’t get a graphics card for your PC, as miners invest vast sums of money to build their mining machines.

With cryptocurrency becoming more mainstream, it’s clear that renewable energy sources like these anaerobic harvesters are necessary to keep the blockchain going, without increasing the planet’s climate crisis.

Maybe if enough Bitcoin miners move to poop-powered electricity, Tesla will start accepting cryptocurrency as payment for its vehicles again.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.