Cryptocurrency Mining: The Challenges it Faces and How New Regulations Can Help

The prevalence and importance of cryptocurrency has significantly increased since the introduction of Bitcoin just over ten years ago. Today, there are over 1,000 different cryptocurrencies, and recently the combined market capitalization of these cryptocurrencies peaked at over 750 billion dollars. A critical component of any cryptocurrency is the transaction verification through mining. However, cryptocurrency mining is facing significant challenges that must be solved in order for cryptocurrencies to continue their growth. Therefore, this recent development proposes regulations to address four specific challenges faced by cryptocurrency mining: energy consumption, miner consolidation, encryption security, and miner income volatility.

• Author: Killian Steer
• Cite: Killian Steer, Cryptocurrency Mining: The Challenges it Faces and How New Regulations Can Help, 20 N.C. J. L. & Tech. On. 301 (2019), //ncjolt.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/05/Steer_Final.pdf.
• PDF: //ncjolt.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/05/Steer_Final.pdf
• Volume: Volume 20, Online Edition