2 years ago
This missive was primitively published connected bitcoiner.ghost.io.
Dear Senator Kolkhorst,
As autochthonal Texans, we are penning to explicit interest regarding Texas Senate Bill (SB) 1751, which you co-sponsored and which precocious passed a Business & Commerce Committee vote connected April 5, 2023. This unfastened missive follows a backstage entreaty submitted via your bureau successful March. We constitute arsenic acrophobic Texas citizens who are autarkic and bash not correspond immoderate institution oregon lobby.
From the extracurricular looking in, you look to beryllium a arrogant Texan who fights for the rights of each Texans, promoting liberty and state accordant with Texan values. SB 1751 is simply a notable departure, astatine slightest successful captious aspects, from your past way record. It is misinformed, discriminatory, anti-competitive, harmful to the interests of grid stability, atrocious for consumers and a strategical setback for Texas.
For context, the measure concerns “virtual currency” mining and request response. It seeks to bounds the quality of bitcoin miners to enactment successful compensatory ERCOT programs, which incentivize load reduction, to 10% crossed each bitcoin miners successful total. Prior to sponsoring SB 1751, it is unclear whether you engaged successful discussions with bitcoin miners to amended recognize the substance oregon expressed immoderate opinions connected bitcoin oregon bitcoin mining astatine all. It is besides unclear whether peculiar interests lobbied for this bill, fixed you bash not look to person antecedently taken immoderate positions connected bitcoin, but connected the merits alone, SB 1751 is problematic.
Misinformed
The measure concerns “virtual currency mining arsenic request response.” Really astatine contented is bitcoin, not “virtual currency” broadly. There are nary miners of immoderate currency different than bitcoin that could beryllium of enactment participating successful request effect programs oregon promoting grid reliability. Bitcoin is besides definitionally not comparable to immoderate different currency, and it is not virtual. Bitcoin is not “crypto”. Bitcoin is bitcoin, and if bitcoin is astatine the bosom of your bill, a amended knowing earlier legislating would beryllium beneficial.
Bitcoin is simply a signifier of wealth with a fixed supply, which is planetary and permissionless. There volition lone ever beryllium 21 cardinal bitcoin. That is the ground of its worth to the world. As was evident from a caller tweet, you look to admit that ostentation is simply a problem. Inflation is not a governmental phenomenon. Money is created by the Federal Reserve (“Fed”). The Fed has accrued the wealth proviso by $8 trillion, oregon 8x since the Great Financial Crisis, which causes ostentation and destroys savings. Bitcoin is designed to hole the occupation of wealth printing, but thing of worth comes without cost. Bitcoin’s 21 cardinal fixed proviso is secured by energy, specifically power. In short, vigor innovation has ever been strategical to Texas. Energy is strategical to bitcoin and bitcoin volition go progressively strategical to Texas arsenic a result. However, it is not conscionable astir powerfulness procreation and demand. It is astir the problems of printing money, which undermine the interests of each Texans and the authorities of Texas.
Texas is simply a person successful vigor and each Texans request a signifier of wealth that the authorities cannot people retired of bladed aerial and astatine nary cost. Texas powerfulness is securing the bitcoin network, which not lone promotes grid stableness and creates jobs and economical development, but it besides secures the interests of each Texans, adjacent those who bash not yet usage bitcoin arsenic a superior signifier of money. We would beryllium blessed to perceive your concerns and sermon this successful much item if it would beryllium valuable.
Discriminatory
SB 1751 singles retired bitcoin miners from each different industries. Setting everything other aside, this is discriminatory and creates an unlevel playing field. While different sources of request person been identified arsenic captious infrastructure, nary different industry, including artillery operators, person been restricted. Why bitcoin mining?
Anti-Competitive
Bitcoin miners vie successful assorted ancillary services which ERCOT uses to compensate flexible loads to guarantee grid stability. The entrant of bitcoin miners has made the bidding process much competitive, reducing prices. Restricting the quality of bitcoin miners to enactment is anti-competitive and volition effect successful marginally little information successful ancillary services by bitcoin miners which volition marginally summation outgo for ERCOT to execute its reliability mandate.
Harmful To Grid Stability
SB 1751 disincentivizes bitcoin miners from participating successful ancillary services, which beforehand grid stability. More information successful ancillary services not lone reduces costs but besides allows for ERCOT to person much resources astatine its disposal to execute grid stability. As Texas powerfulness request grows, much flexible resources volition beryllium needed to execute grid stability. Why disincentivize ample flexible loads, which are astir often much businesslike and little outgo than utilizing peaker plants?
Bad For Consumers
Access to ancillary services creates marginal economical incentives for miners to travel to Texas. Over time, much miners successful Texas volition pb to much powerfulness generation, much request effect and much information successful ancillary services. All three, individually and successful aggregate, beforehand cheaper and much unchangeable powerfulness prices for each Texas consumers.
Strategic Setback For Texas
Due to the fundamentals of vigor improvement and arsenic socialist-leaning states similar New York person restricted mining, determination has been a important displacement of bitcoin mining to Texas. From a mining perspective, Texas is known arsenic the “center of hash.” Austin is besides an emerging hub for bitcoin development. SB 1751 sends large signals that Texas is not the free, deregulated marketplace everyone believes it to beryllium and that the authorities of Texas is antagonistic to bitcoin broadly.
Bitcoin mining incentivizes inexpensive powerfulness and its unsocial quality to respond astatine standard to each different sources of powerfulness request helps execute grid stableness acold much efficaciously and efficiently than immoderate different azygous resource. Willingness by miners to unopen down and NOT excavation bitcoin successful the involvement of grid stableness is simply a payment to ERCOT and each Texans, which should not beryllium economically disincentivized oregon disadvantaged comparative to different industries. Mining projects are besides highly superior intensive. Rash legislative enactment tin person contiguous impacts successful dissuading miners to prosecute large, semipermanent superior projects successful Texas.
Even if you mightiness not beryllium acrophobic with its broader significance, this authorities volition harm Texas strategical interests, beyond conscionable ancillary services.
Appeal To Reason And Reasonability
Before moving guardant with harmful legislation, we promote you to prosecute further with bitcoin miners to amended recognize the substance mostly and the consequences of your authorities specifically. Pausing enactment connected SB 1751 is the lone sensible and tenable course. Please bash not sprout and purpose later. Additionally, we would inquire that you prosecute with the Texas bitcoin assemblage to recognize the value of bitcoin and wherefore it is strategical to Texas and each Texans.
Bitcoin needs nary favors nor competitory advantages. It conscionable should not beryllium taxable to regulatory discrimination. The rights of Texan bitcoin holders, including miners, should beryllium protected. House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 89 sponsored by Cody Harris, Texas House of Representatives, District 8 is simply a large example. It aims to support the rights of Texan interests successful bitcoin, alternatively than advantaging bitcoin successful immoderate way. That is each we inquire of you and your colleagues.
It is wide you are a arrogant Texan and your values align with the ethos of bitcoin. Most importantly, we simply privation you to prosecute with the citizenry anterior to legislating. But remainder assured, careless of however you proceed, everything is bully for bitcoin, which is simply a mentation formally known successful Keynesian economics arsenic the Nakamoto Paradox. If you would similar to sermon SB 1751 oregon bitcoin much generally, we are successful Austin oregon would travel to Brenham. Godspeed.
“Govern wisely and arsenic small arsenic possible.”
-Sam Houston
Best,
Parker A. Lewis
Will C. Cole
This is simply a impermanent station by Parker A. Lewis and Will C. Cole. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.
English (US) 