Technology Quarterly | A voracious appetite
Mining cryptocurrencies is using up eye-watering amounts of power
An unwelcome side-effect of the way cryptocurrencies work
BITFARMS IS a mining company based near Montreal in Canada’s Quebec province. Mining has a long history in this area. Quebec is the world’s second-biggest producer of niobium, an important ingredient in steel alloys, and the third-largest of titanium dioxide, used in products from spacecraft to toothpaste.
This article appeared in the Technology Quarterly section of the print edition under the headline “A voracious appetite”
From the September 1st 2018 edition
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