- U.S. cryptocurrency mining firm Stronghold is turning waste coal into cryptocurrency
- Stronghold is using the latest techniques to convert the dangerous coal stacks into electricity
- Stronghold recently raised $105 million in two equity rounds
The attention paid to Bitcoin’s environmental impact has been negative in terms of price, but for companies already trying to make Bitcoin mining greener the added attention has been a boon. One such company is Stronghold Digital, an American cryptocurrency mining operation that uses waste coal to create electricity which it then uses to mine cryptocurrency. This waste coal would otherwise find its way into water sources, making Stronghold Digital one of a new breed of environmentally beneficial crypto mining companies. Their early success, and a shift towards ESG-friendly crypto mining operations, has seen them secure $105 million in funding to expand their operation.
Stronghold Digital Crypto Mining Benefits Local Area
Stronghold Digital was founded this year with the aim of turning potentially dangerous waste coal into electricity. The coal, which isn’t suitable for burning, has been sitting at the Scrubgrass Generating Plant in Pennsylvania in some cases for hundreds of years, mixing with rainwater and eventually finding its way into the nearby Pennsylvania waterways where it causes huge pollution problems.
This previously unusable waste coal has been left in huge piles throughout the area for years because the technology has not existed to convert it cleanly. Developments in generating and environmental control technology have allowed such waste coal to be cleanly converted into electricity, which Stronghold Digital is using to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The company estimates that some 200 tonnes of waste coal is removed and destroyed for every Bitcoin it mines.
$105 Million Raise Will Increase Operations
Stronghold Digital says that not only will the process remove dangerous coal stacks from the local area, it will also allow the county to reclaim land thought to be lost to the piles over time. Not only this, the electricity generation process produces fly ash which can be used as a fertilizer. This makes Stronghold Digital one of the most ecologically friendly cryptocurrency mining companies in the world, and with their $105 million investment they can hopefully expand their operation to a larger scale.
