Fort Worth, in crypto-friendly Texas, will start mining bitcoin by using three Bitmain Antminer S9 mining rigs donated by the Texas Blockchain Council. The mayor believes the operational cost could be offset by the mined bitcoin – which will be included in the city’s balance sheet.
Mayor Mattie Parker holds a cautiously optimistic attitude toward the latest move into the cryptocurrency industry, as she claims that Fort Worth will only decide whether to invest real cash for the mine after an assessment occurring in six months.
When questioned by CNBC why the city has not chosen other risky assets like stocks as an investment instead, Parker responded that if Fort Worth had not received the donation from the Council, it would have remained neutral on holding bitcoin. Despite the proclaimed neutrality, she said she sees cryptocurrency as a big part of the future.
However, holding bitcoin on a city’s balance sheet isn’t easy, as the cryptocurrency is still widely considered an “uncharted territory.” To make that possible – Parker admitted – the city has to “jump through hoops” in order to understand the policies.
The newly-elected mayor also revealed that the idea of mining bitcoin came from speaking to her VC friends, who told her, “80% of venture capital is essentially spent on tech, and cryptocurrency is at the centre of that right now.”
The city’s bold adoption of BTC is not profit-oriented, but it sets an example of municipal government mining bitcoin and putting the largest cryptocurrency into its balance sheet.
Alex Brammer, VP of business development for Luxor, commented that Fort Worth’s move will bolster the legitimacy of bitcoin and potentially inspire governments to use bitcoin mining for stabilizing electrical grids in the transition to clean energy.
