crs_reports: R48914

Congressional Research Service reports with summaries, authors, and topic classifications.

Data license: Public Domain (U.S. Government data) · Data source: Federal Register API & Regulations.gov API

This data as json

id title publish_date update_date status content_type authors topics summary pdf_url html_url
R48914 Cryptocurrency Mining and the Electricity Sector 2026-04-22T04:00:00Z 2026-04-24T12:53:53Z Active Reports Corrie E. Clark Electricity, Energy Policy The popularity of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, and their underlying blockchain technology presents both challenges and opportunities for the electricity sector. Cryptocurrency is a type of digital asset that is sometimes referred to as virtual currency. Cryptocurrency mining (“cryptomining”) is the process of validating transactions on a digital ledger and adding transactions to the ledger’s permanent record. For providing the computing power for the validations, miners are awarded some amount of cryptocurrency in return, making it a potentially lucrative endeavor. As investment in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has increased, the electricity demand to support cryptocurrency mining activities has also increased. The increased electricity demand—when localized—can exceed the available generation capacity. If a utility invests in a new power plant or in infrastructure upgrades to meet the increased demand, the utility might raise rates to recover the cost of those capital investments. In instances where a utility may be able to accommodate the increased electricity demand, increased sales might lead a utility to reduce rates. Not all cryptocurrencies require energy-intensive mining operations. Some cryptocurrencies, such as Ether, can operate under algorithms that require less electricity. In addition, blockchain technologies could present opportunities for the electricity sector by facilitating power and financial transactions on a smart grid. Some see an opportunity to leverage cryptocurrency mining facilities as a way to manage growth in electricity demand and to moderate wholesale power prices during times of peak demand or low generator availability. Some U.S. state governments are developing various policies in response to growth in electricity demand from cryptocurrency mining activities. Some states have considered or imposed limits on cryptomining development. Other states have offered reduced electricity rates, tax incentives, or opportunities to participate in electric load reduction programs to attract and retain miners. There are potential options that could be adopted by the federal government to address electricity consumption and affordability concerns. These options include better quantifying and tracking the size of proposed and existing cryptocurrency mining operations, incentivizing the development and operation of power plants to increase electricity generation, and improving the energy efficiency of cryptocurrency mining facilities through the consideration of the adoption of technologies and processes that promote energy delivery optimization. Approaches to improve energy efficiency could include funding research and development of technologies for cooling, technologies for waste heat optimization, and algorithms for use in consensus mechanisms or for other computational purposes. Some of these options could have implications beyond cryptocurrency miners, potentially affecting data center facilities broadly. Other policy options to facilitate the communication of information between the federal government and electricity sector stakeholders could respond to concerns regarding electricity security associated with cryptocurrency mining facilities. In the 119th Congress, there are several bills that could address cryptocurrency mining and electricity sector issues. The Clean Cloud Act of 2025 (S. 1475 and H.R. 6179) and the Data Center Transparency Act (H.R. 6984) address data collection content and frequency for cryptocurrency mining facilities and data centers. The Preventing Rate Inflation in Consumer Energy (PRICE) Act (H.R. 6983) would address concerns about electricity generation by requiring data centers of a certain size to generate all of the electricity that the facility consumes. Accompanying the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (S. 2342), the report by the Select Committee on Intelligence, S.Rept. 119-51, in describing concerns with certain cryptocurrency mining operations, would direct the intelligence community to work together with law enforcement partners to shut down those operations that pose a threat to national security. Other bills related to addressing electricity security issues would expand the Department of Energy’s authorities; these include the Energy Emergency Leadership Act (H.R. 7258) and the Energy Threat Analysis Center Act of 2026 (H.R. 7305). https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/PDF/R48914/R48914.2.pdf https://www.congress.gov/crs_external_products/R/HTML/R48914.html

Links from other tables