City of Fort Worth votes in favor of Bitcoin mining program

cointelegraph.com:

Fort Worth, Texas has launched a pilot program to mine Bitcoin in partnership with the Texas Blockchain Council.

In a Tuesday city council meeting, Fort Worth approved a resolution to start running three Antminer S9 Bitcoin (BTC) miners donated by the Texas Blockchain Council in the city hall building. The pilot program was aimed at recognizing “the exponential growth of the blockchain and cryptocurrency industries” in addition to encouraging Fort Worth to become a tech leader.

"This is a very small opportunity for Fort Worth that has big possible returns on investment," said Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker at the council meeting. "We are going to become the first city in the world to mine Bitcoin here on site at city hall."

According to the city, each BTC miner will use the same amount of energy “as a household vacuum cleaner,” with costs expected to be offset by the mined crypto. Carlo Capua, deputy chief of staff for the Fort Worth Mayor and Council Office, told Cointelegraph the three rigs were expected to mine roughly 0.06 BTC annually — $2,353 with the price of Bitcoin $39,215 at the time of publication.

The pilot was designed to be limited in both the number of machines and duration “to learn the potential impact and opportunities for Bitcoin” — the city will evaluate the program after six months, starting in October. Capua said the program would be considered based on the amount of BTC mined, the amount of energy used, and public awareness of tech and crypto in Fort Worth:

“By starting small to learn as they go, Fort Worth is positioning itself to be the Bitcoin mining capital of Texas,” said Lee Bratcher, president and founder of the Texas Blockchain Council. “The state as a whole has already established itself as