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Ever since the introduction of [BTC](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-bitcoin) in 2009, we have had a growing number of BTC [miners](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-miners). Well, it was not like this in the beginning. Miners were not that much as you know btc was a new [technology](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-technology) and not a lot of people have time or should I say hopes for it. So at first, the mining difficulty was not as high as it is now. This only goes to prove that people are more involved in mining btc now than in the past. Btc mining doesn’t just involve making your computer work for you. It involves a lot. You need to invest into what you’re doing or you’ll end up never earning a dime.
## <center>BTC mining</center>
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Btc mining looks like such a big term at first but it’s not a big term when I break it down. Btc mining in simple terms is just about verifying [transactions](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-transaction) on the [blockchain](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/blockchain). You know btc runs its blockchain, right? So users who are able to run and [validate](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-validator) these transactions are given btc as compensation for running and validating the [nodes](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-node).It sure takes a lot to verify the node. You need to be as fast as you can to be able to get to the reward. It’s not such a big deal but your computer or how sophisticated your devices are okay a very big role in that.
You don’t use a Pentium device to mine BTC. The set-up alone cost so much so you might find others stopping when they don’t get enough [money](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-money) for their time and efforts. In mining btc, after you validate a transaction new [tokens](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-token) are created and used in the payment of the client. You are required (your computer) to solve sophisticated math's problems as fast as you can so you can earn the new coins as a reward. You know in the past people weren’t much interested in it when the price was nothing to write home about. The interest developed when the price surged and people realized it was here to stay. We can compare it to how meme coins invite a lot of interest as soon as they start shooting. This reminds me of Pepe, not a lot of people will have wanted to buy Pepe but as soon as Pepe started to surge a lot of [traders](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-trader) grew interest in it.
So as the price of BTC surged people’s interest in mining was awoken. But not everyone can be a BTC miner, even after you are able to get the devices to mine, the cost at which you mine is not so easy like at first. Now to get your hands on a mining device it should cost no less than 10,000 dollars an amount a lot of people don’t have lying around. Even after you are able to afford this kind of money you should be aware that as new people join in the mining difficulty increases. So if you join, you got to realize the difficulty increases.
A user is awarded btc by making guesses, the one who is closer to the number is the one who verifies the [block](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-block) and is in turn given the rewards. The kind of hardware that is used in mining BTC is called the ASCI which stands for application-specific integrated circuits, these devices consume a lot of electricity thus it won’t come at an easy cost for an average person to run a BTC mining Center in his or her home.
You also have to realize as the difficulty in mining increases the amount of energy required to mine will increase. This also means you’ll need to spend more time mining. All these factors will lead to the high consumption of your electricity. It is estimated that on average BTC miners consume more electricity than the whole Netherlands.
## <center>Countries fighting against BTC and crypto</center>
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It is, for this reason, countries are fighting against the [cryptocurrency](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/cryptocurrency). It’s not easy to run a node and as such the high consumption of electricity might just be too much for some counties to handle. Let’s take China for example, China uses coal to produce electricity thus the activities of the miners were hurting them. You know the population of China is already high enough and as such coal producing electricity was not an ideal option in the first place but that was what they used.
So the activities of the miners were causing China to have power fluctuations rather frequently. This will also mean that more coal will be used in producing more electricity and as such measures had to be taken. China set a ban on cryptocurrency to counterattack the mining of Bitcoin in the country. They wanted to move from using coal to produce electricity to renewable ways but it couldn’t happen if not they controlled the activities of miners in the country.
On the other hand, other countries have also come out to ban crypto. Nepal recently banned cryptocurrency in 2021 because of the scams in the cryptocurrencies space. They saw it fit to ban them before they have a bad effect on their country. So this means in Nepal one is prohibited to do anything crypto.
One of the known African counties to ban cryptocurrency is Nigeria. Sometime last year Nigeria came out with new laws that prohibited its countrymen from dealing in anything that happens to do with cryptocurrency. They as well banned [banks](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-bank) from dealing with anything crypto. When the law was passed citizens were being arrested if they were suspected of dealing in cryptocurrency of any kind.
## <center>Other countries getting more involved with BTC</center>
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[source](https://news.bitcoin.com/el-salvador-buys-more-bitcoin-country-now-holds-700-btc/)</center>
Whiles countries are fighting the inevitable, other countries are embracing new technology. It’s not as if these countries are banning it, people are not [trading](https://leofinance.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-trade) or mining.
In fact, after China banned cryptocurrency it was stated in a report that though some people left the country to find Bitcoin-friendly countries some still stayed behind and were mining underground. Yes, China did manage to get what they were looking for as most of the miners moved to the USA where they are not the biggest mining center in the world.
Nigeria on the other hand, after banning crypto has seen a growth in numbers. More and more people are getting interested in cryptocurrency and as such more people are trading it. I know of people in Nigeria who are on [hive](https://leofinance.io/@crypto-guides/what-is-hive-crypto-hive) and rather sincerely I think we all can attest to the fact.
El Salvador is one of the few countries to come out and accept Bitcoin. In El Salvador, there was a law that was passed that made crypto trading, and payment with cryptocurrency legal in the country. In the law, crypto could be used as a medium of exchange in the country like any other currency.
El Salvador is the first country in the world to ever come out and say yes Bitcoin will be used as legal tender in their country. This came after their president passed it into law.
After the bill was passed they even went future to commons A National Commission For Digital Assets And Bitcoin Funds Administration Agency in the country. This agency has been set up to manage and invest offering of digital offerings by the El Salvador government.
After the law has been passed El Salvador counties to make groundbreaking news. Their president announced that they will be building a Bitcoin city in the country and the sole purpose will be to mine Bitcoin. In the city, there’s a volcano that is meant to serve as the main source of energy for the Bitcoin city.
## <center>Renewable energy in mining bitcoin</center>
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Mining and the environment have never been seen face to face. The problem is that because these powerhouse machines use a lot of energy to mine btc they end up emitting a lot of carbon dioxide into the environment. This is why some counties are against it.
Before Bitcoin mining can be adopted there must be proven ways by which the mining will be safe to the environment or cause less harm to the environment. This is because, with BTC miners in your country, it indirectly means you will have to triple the rate at which you produce electricity to take care of the needs of the city.
This is where renewable energy comes into play. As announced by the El Salvador president. They will be building a Bitcoin city but one of the notable things about this city is that the energy that will be used in mining the bitcoin is from a volcano called the Conchagua Volcano. Energy from the volcano can and will be used in mining Bitcoin in El Salvador. Recently tether announced its 1 billion dollar funding to aid in the building of a Bitcoin mining farm in the country with volcanic energy.
There are other ways of mining Bitcoin which are environmentally friendly ways. Some of the other ways are solar and wind energy. But the most notable of them all is the volcanic energy as the energy there can power up the whole BTC mining farm when it is built.
Ever since the start countries have been against Bitcoin but it has proven to be stronger. Little by little some countries are beginning to see the potential of investing in it. Sooner or later we hope other countries will hop on the train.
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Source used
[leo glossary](https://leofinance.io/posts/leoglossary/leoglossary-main-menu)
[bankrate.com](https://www.bankrate.com/investing/what-is-bitcoin-mining/#profit)
[aljazeera.com](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/1/12/el-salvador-passes-law-on-cryptocurrency-transfers)
Posted Using [LeoFinance Alpha](https://leofinance.io/@rubilu/bitcoin-bitcoin-mining-adaptation-and-new-ways-of-mining)
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