Mining Project to Serve as Scalable Proof of Concept

Bitcoin faces no shortage of consternation, but the spat over the cryptocurrency's footprint spilled out into the public over the last few weeks following comments from Elon Musk.

Although U.S. miners have come together to form the Bitcoin Mining Council following Musk's critique by promising more transparency on mining's energy use, Jack Dorsey's Square plans to lead the way in terms of substantive action. Instead of jawboning the crypto up and down, Dorsey is putting Square's reputation on the line with an investment allocation to a sustainable mining initiative.

The payment giant revealed plans to invest $5 million in a solar-energy-based mining facility in partnership with Blockstream, which will be responsible for providing the infrastructure development know-how. The project will ultimately deliver a proof of concept that underlines how sustainable bitcoin mining can be accomplished at scale, paving the way for more widespread adoption of these techniques.