Elon Musk, Michael Saylor establish Bitcoin Mining Council to promote renewable energy usage

While China has extended its crackdown on cryptocurrencies, MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor and Elon Musk have revealed plans to establish a new council focused on Bitcoin mining.

North America to take the lead in Bitcoin mining

Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced in a Tweet, indicating that he spoke with Bitcoin miners based in North America. The meeting outlined a plan for renewable energy usage and disclosing their current methods of obtaining renewable power. According to Musk, the miners also urged others in the industry to do the same.

Saylor announced that after a meeting with Musk and leading BTC miners in North America over the weekend, the group has agreed to form a Bitcoin Mining Council to promote energy usage transparency and accelerate sustainability initiatives worldwide. 

In addition to his continuous and growing incorporation of Bitcoin into MicroStrategy’s balance sheet, according to Saylor, his entities collectively hold 111,000 of the bellwether cryptocurrency. 

The MicroStrategy CEO added that the group included representatives from Argo Blockchain, Blockcap, Core Scientific, Galaxy Digital, Hive Blockchain Technologies, Hut 8 Mining, Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain. 

The new industry group also aims to pursue broad environmental, social and corporate governance goals concerning cryptocurrency mining and educate the public on the process works. 

Musk’s decision to halt Bitcoin payments for his company, Tesla, due to environmental concerns related to mining led to one of the worst declines in the cryptocurrency market. 

Despite Musk’s previous concerns on the leading cryptocurrency, he continues to hold Bitcoin on Tesla’s balance sheet and has previously revealed that he has not sold any BTC. Misconceptions about the negative impact the mining process had on the environment continue to loom, especially with the recent Chinese crackdown on crypto miners in the country.

Bitcoin mining companies in China have opted to cease operations due to the news that Chinese authorities were planning a crackdown on cryptocurrency mining. Large operators, including Huobi Mall, announced that it would suspend its mining business in the country,

Last week, China’s major trade associations even released coordinated warnings against cryptocurrency investment. Citizens were encouraged to report any crypto mining activities they have witnessed through a telephone hotline that was recently set up. 

Although China’s ban on cryptocurrency is nothing new, the rising superpower’s move has continued to wreak havoc on the digital asset space.