Earlier this month, it was revealed that Bitcoin mining used up to 2.3% of all the electricity generated across the entire USA in 2023 (
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-02-01/bitcoin-miners-in-us-consume-up-to-2-3-of-nation-s-electricity). It's increased fossil fuel burning and added an upwards pressure on electricity prices.
Since China banned crypto mining in 2021 (and some other cheap-energy countries have severely curtailed it), mining in the US, and especially in Texas, has really rocketed.
Some Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren, have for some time been trying to obtain more detailed usage data by mining companies. They found a way to do this by utilising the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which does have the legal power to order that Bitcoin mining companies provide detailed data on their energy usage.
The Bitcoin mining companies - who have their own lobbying group - have tried to block this.
They have a lot of support amongst the Repugs, including in Congress.
On Friday night, a Texas judge granted their request for an injunction to block them having to provide this data (
https://www.semafor.com/article/02/24/2024/bitcoin-miners-lose-a-bid-to-hide-their-energy-data)
A quick look into the judge who made the order reveals he's a Trump appointee from 2018, who "has been widely criticized for ignoring binding case law"
Hopefully the higher courts will overturn this and force these crypto mining shitstains to provide the information - and hopefully that triggers a huge public backlash against them.
Meanwhile, that Semafor article mentions that Ethiopia is the new boom-country for cypto-miners, taking advantage of cheap electricity and weak regulation there. Half of Ethiopians have no access to electricity.