In January 2023, in the course of the World Financial Discussion board (WEF) annual convention in Davos, Switzerland, Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8, a crypto mining firm trading as a public firm, joined me for a fireplace chat on the Crypto Summit on the boardwalk. Leverton outlined a few of her views on the current shakeout within the cryptocurrency market and mirrored on how Bitcoin (BTC) mining is faring within the present turbulent time for the business.

In 2021 and 2022, the crypto business noticed important progress, adopted by bear market struggles, bankruptcies and job cuts. Leverton took over as appearing CEO of Hut 8 Mining simply over two years in the past and has seen these ups and downs on the entrance strains.

Jaime Leverton CEO of Hut 8 (left) and Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr (proper) in the course of the Crypto Summit 2023 in Davos

“Clearly we have all skilled the volatility in crypto,” Leverton mentioned when requested for her ideas on the previous few years whereas guiding Hut 8 via the ups and downs of the crypto business. “I believe the mining business specifically has been via some fairly massive swings over the previous two years,” she added, noting that “2022 actually was the right storm from a Bitcoin mining business perspective.” She continued:

“We had a document high hash price, a languishing bitcoin value, and an power disaster that rapidly got here on the again of one of many greatest bull markets we have seen for the crypto mining business specifically. We have seen greater than 20 new mining corporations go public. At our peak, we had virtually 40 publicly traded bitcoin mining corporations in North America alone.”

A pioneer within the bitcoin mining sector in relation to public entities, Hut 8 entered the Canadian market in 2018 and subsequently listed on the Nasdaq in 2022, Leverton famous. The 2021 crypto bull run attracted important capital inflows into digital asset mining, rising leverage, in keeping with Hut 8 CEO.

“Then couple that with the right storm that I used to be referring to that occurred in 2022 – the business has actually been shaken up and we have seen individuals who have had plenty of affect wrestle and that is how we discover ourselves now in a starting section To see some consolidation within the business, an increasing number of corporations are beginning to diversify their portfolios, which is one thing we did in good religion – we additionally began doing this within the bull market.”

Leverton made it onto Cointelegraph’s annual High 100 listing of probably the most influential gamers within the crypto business. She ranks 73rd within the 2023 version.

Later within the interview, Leverton mentioned what Bitcoin mining is meant to ship. “I believe probably the most intriguing dialog we have to have about bitcoin mining is definitely the promise of it,” he added:

“The great thing about bitcoin mining – I used to be a founding member of the Bitcoin Mining Council, and in reality we launched our newest report earlier this week exhibiting that 58.9% of the power consumption of the bitcoin business by the blockchain comes from renewable sources continues to enhance quarter by quarter.”

The determine of 58.9% comes from a report containing the outcomes of the Bitcoin Mining Council survey for the fourth quarter of 2022, printed in January 2023. Power consumption has been a contentious difficulty within the crypto area, with Tesla CEO Elon Musk expressing an curiosity within the subject. One argument made by cybersecurity engineer Michel Khazzaka is that the mainstream banking world dwarfs Bitcoin when it comes to power consumption, in keeping with one other Cointelegraph interview.

Associated: Hut 8 merger would have occurred even with out FTX or crypto turmoil, says CEO

“The place the thrill comes for me and for our area is how bitcoin mining can actually push the boundaries of innovation and funding in renewable power in actually significant methods,” Leverton mentioned, including:

“We simply noticed an explosion of bitcoin miners who began utilizing waste methane, flare gasoline and landfill to generate energy and forestall that carbon from being launched into the environment.”

Based on Leverton, “The great thing about a bitcoin mine is that it does not should be hooked as much as transmission strains, so you’ll be able to truly mine bitcoin proper the place power is being wasted.” She famous that miners in rural communities in Africa are begin creating, including that they’ve determined to go self-funding, which is “probably the most thrilling factor taking place within the mining area in 2023 and 2024.”