Bitcoin Mining Council officially open now, calls energy consumption 'feature, not a bug'

Micheal Saylor-backed Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) made its debut on June 10 as an open forum of Bitcoin miners amid backlash over the amount of fossil fuel-based energy used for mining the cryptocurrency.

The mandate of the BMC is to promote transparency, share best practices, and educate the public on the benefits of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining. The council website shows that the initiative is backed by nine companies including Micro Strategy, Galaxy Digital, BlockCap and Marathon.

"The Bitcoin Mining Council is a voluntary and open forum of Bitcoin miners committed to the network and its core principles," MicroStrategy Inc. Chief Executive Officer Michael Saylor, who is among the people who formed the organisation, wrote on Twitter. "Join us."

The Bitcoin Mining Council is a voluntary and open forum of Bitcoin miners committed to the network and its core principles. We promote transparency, share best practices, and educate the public on the benefits of #Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining. Join us.

US Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren claimed that Bitcoin "requires so much computing activity that it eats up more energy than entire countries."

Bitcoin requires so much computing activity that it eats up more energy than entire countries. One of the easiest and least disruptive things we can do to fight the #ClimateCrisis is to crack down on environmentally wasteful cryptocurrencies. pic.twitter.com/derGr1bjuq

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) June 9, 2021

Meanwhile, BMC believes that Bitcoin's energy usage is a "feature, not a bug" as it provides "tremendous network security." Becoming a member of the commission would mean voluntary disclosure of energy sources used in Bitcoin mining.

While the website categorically stated that Musk has no role at the BMC but acknowledged that the extent of his involvement was joining an "educational call" with a group of North American companies to discuss Bitcoin mining.

Musk also tweeted in May that he had "potentially promising talks" with North American Bitcoin miners on the energy conservation efforts in mining the cryptocurrency.

Any Bitcoin miner can join the commission, without any cost, if he believes in the same mandate of transparency and shares best practices. The website said that the founding members of the BMC will bear the cost of onboarding and operating expenses for the first year of operation. "Any excess funding will be given back to Bitcoin core development through established organisation," it added.