  Blockchain technologies are considered one of the most disruptive innovations
of the last decade, enabling secure decentralized trust-building. However, in
recent years, with the rapid increase in the energy consumption of
blockchain-based computations for cryptocurrency mining, there have been
growing concerns about their sustainable operation in electric grids. This
paper investigates the tri-factor impact of such large loads on carbon
footprint, grid reliability, and electricity market price in the Texas grid. We
release open-source high-resolution data to enable high-resolution modeling of
influencing factors such as location and flexibility. We reveal that the
per-megawatt-hour carbon footprint of cryptocurrency mining loads across
locations can vary by as much as 50% of the crude system average estimate. We
show that the flexibility of mining loads can significantly mitigate power
shortages and market disruptions that can result from the deployment of mining
loads. These findings suggest policymakers to facilitate the participation of
large mining facilities in wholesale markets and require them to provide
mandatory demand response.
