Home > News > Technology > Swiss parliament opposes motion in capital Bern to consider BTC mining
Lawmakers in the Swiss capital Bern have voted in favor of a directive to explore BTC block reward mining using the city's surplus energy, despite opposition from the governing council.
The city's Bitcoin Parliamentary Group introduced the motion earlier this year, and after more than seven months of debate and amendments, members of the city's Grand Council voted 85-46 in favor.
The motion directs the state government to consider block reward mining and how it can be used to utilize surplus energy generated by local power generators. The group argues that mining can bring stability to the city's power grid.
One local media outlet reported that the motion cited Texas as a model for cities. The US state has become a haven for miners, home to some of the world's biggest miners, from Bitmain and Riot Platforms (NASDAQ: RIOT) to Marathon Digital (NASDAQ: MARA) and Applied Digital.
However, it does not mention that BTC mining has proven problematic in Texas for several reasons. Last month, residents of a north Texas county sued Marathon Digital over “unbearably loud noise conditions” coming from the facility.
Additionally, miners are flocking to the state because of an agreement with the state's power grid operator, ERCOT, which pays miners to shut down operations during peak demand. But the deal has come under intense criticism in recent months, with lawmakers filing a motion to cancel it, saying it unfairly favors miners. For example, Riot Platforms made $13 million by shutting down a mining rig.
Still, Bern councilors believe that block reward mining will be a net positive for the city. They argued in their motion that the miners would create jobs for local people and stabilize the power grid.
But even job creation is being challenged elsewhere. Take Kentucky, for example. The state gives tax breaks and other incentives to miners to compete with Texas. But local residents are currently providing jobs to dozens of people while these miners gobble up electricity and mint millions of dollars for foreign investors. He claims that he is, and is armed.
“A lot of these crypto projects are 'plug it in, set it and forget it,'” said Colby Kirk, president of One East Kentucky, a local development group. He noted that miners do not create “substantive long-term employment.”
In Texas, Jackie Sawicki, founder of a local lobbying group that opposes BTC mining, said: [miners] Only 2,000 permanent, full-time jobs have been created in all of Texas. 15 million Texans work, but only 2,000 permanent jobs are created. ”
Back in Bern, the City Council has opposed block reward mining, saying the city already allocates significant energy to other types of data centers, such as artificial intelligence (AI) facilities. Furthermore, the city council claimed that the city exports energy to Switzerland and other cities.
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