By the end of 2024, America will have cemented its position as the leader in Bitcoin mining. Its hashrate, or the computing power that secures the Bitcoin network, is over 40%.
The U.S. mining pools Foundry USA & MARA Pool, which collectively mined more than 38.5% all Bitcoin blocks, played a major role.
According to data obtained from TheMinerMag Foundry USA, its hashrate increased from 157 exahashes/second (EH/s), at the start of the year, to approximately 280.
Foundry USA is the world’s largest bitcoin mining pool
Foundry USA is now the world’s largest bitcoin mining pool, controlling 36.5% total hashrate.
Hashrate Index also reported, that MARA Pool is commanding around 32 EH/s and contributing 4.35% to the total hashpower.
CryptoQuant’s founder Ki Young Ju said that despite these advances, China-based pools still remain influential. They will control 55% of global hashrate by September 2024.
The dominance continues despite the ban in 2021 on cryptocurrency mining. Miners are circumventing the restrictions by using peer-to-peer applications and virtual private networks that bypass China’s national firewall.
It is difficult to determine the true geographical distribution of mining power. Many mining pools depend on international contributors even if they are headquartered in one country.
TheMinerMag has noted that this decentralized participation complicates estimations of hashrate dominance.
Bitcoin’s centralization has been questioned due to the concentration of mining power in a small number of large pools.
Rajiv Khemani is the CEO of Auradine Mining Chips. He described Bitcoin decentralization to be a national issue.
Khemani, in a speech in October, stressed the importance of diversifying the critical infrastructure such as application-specific integrated chips (ASICs), to avoid supply chain vulnerability and ensure that no one country controls the majority of Bitcoin’s network hashrate.
Bitmain expands its Bitcoin mining hardware production to the US
Bitmain, the Bitcoin mining hardware maker, announced last month that it would expand its production to the United States. The company cited a strategic objective of improving the supply chain’s efficiency.
The move was made amid an escalating tension between China and the US over trade, which highlights the need for businesses to adapt to changing geopolitical conditions.
According to reports, the company controls up to 90% of global Bitcoin mining hardware market share.
According to reports, Jack Dorsey’s Block also announced plans for a major investment in Bitcoin mining and a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet.
The company announced at the time that it would reallocate its resources from the canceled “Web5” Project, TBD and reduce investments in Tidal’s music streaming service to support this decision.
At the North American Blockchain Summit held last month, Satoshi Action Fund announced that Texan legislators were exploring legislation to create a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
