A blockchain network marketed as transforming cryptocurrency mining into useful artificial intelligence work is facing scrutiny after a new study claimed its massive computing operation generates no meaningful AI output despite consuming enormous amounts of power.

The research focuses on Pearl, a Layer-1 blockchain that promotes its mining system as performing AI-related computation instead of traditional crypto hashing. Researchers estimate the network operates at roughly 24 exahashes per second, equivalent to around 320,000 Nvidia RTX 3090-class GPUs consuming approximately 112 megawatts of electricity. The findings come from a preprint study examining the platform’s so-called Proof-of-Useful-Work system.

The study argues that Pearl’s miners are not performing genuine AI training or inference tasks. Instead, they reportedly process random matrix multiplications that resemble the mathematical operations used in machine learning but serve no practical purpose. While the network verifies that these calculations are completed correctly, researchers claim it cannot determine whether the computations originated from a real AI workload.

See here: https://wonderfulengineering.com/ai-crypto-network-accused-of-wasting-power-equivalent-to-320000-rtx-3090-gpus-on-meaningless-computation/

Cryptocurrencies overlap with quantum computing in two notable ways. The first is that a powerful-enough quantum computer could break the encryption algorithms that currently keep cryptocurrencies secure from hacking. The second is that several studies have shown that using quantum computers could slash cryptocurrencies’ otherwise staggering energy use.

To test this idea practically, Colton Dillion at Postquant Labs and his colleagues have set up an experimental blockchain network called Quip, which has been running since April. The blockchain is the technology behind cryptocurrencies, and is akin to a public ledger or a database in which users add new records by competing to complete a calculation called “proof of work.” For most cryptocurrencies, the winning computer is rewarded with coins, and the block that is added to the ledger makes that transaction permanent.

Read more here: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2529973-quantum-computer-quickly-mines-cryptocurrency-while-using-less-energy/

This crypto mining facility consumes enough electricity to power 300,000 American homes.

Orbiting satellite sensors have captured high-resolution thermal images exposing massive heat signatures from one of the largest Bitcoin mining operations in the United States, providing an unprecedented look at the environmental footprint of digital currency.

A thermal satellite operated by British company SatVu has captured striking imagery of a massive cryptocurrency mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, exposing intense heat plumes radiating into the atmosphere.

Believed to be one of the largest Bitcoin mining operations in the United States, the site consumes roughly 700 megawatts of electricity—enough to power 300,000 homes. SatVu’s high-resolution sensors, capable of detecting temperature variations down to 11.5 feet, mapped active cooling systems, electrical grids, and heavily strained hardware, transforming how we monitor the physical footprint of the digital economy.

As artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and crypto mining rapidly expand, the energy demand of massive data centers has become a critical climate concern, currently accounting for about 0.5% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Critics point out that a single Bitcoin transaction can generate as much carbon dioxide as driving a gasoline-powered car for 1,600 miles.

Proponents of thermal satellite tracking argue this technology offers an objective, real-time method to hold tech giants accountable, mapping out invisible heat waste and pushing the industry toward greater energy efficiency.

source: Pultarova, T. Satellites reveal heat leaking from largest US cryptocurrency mining center. Space.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/sam-bankman-fried-trump-pardon-b2992018.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcASUAeljbGNrBJQBxmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHhMdYQ_dXDQAX07kn_q-0-5agx8zk2hxlB8X5H8EcZsuMv4bFfWpULbo3LH4_aem_e2CRacCld2qBSTbRsOKkaQ

The Iranian regime’s $1B #Bitcoin mining empire is getting obliterated in real time.

Explosions rocking #Tehran, Isfahan, western provinces. US & Israel in “major combat operations”.

Grid infrastructure — the lifeblood of those ~700K rigs — is prime target. No direct hits needed on miners; cascading blackouts do the job.

Iran’s been mining #BTC at ~$1,320/coin on half-cent/kWh subsidized power, flipping it near $68K for 50x gross margins on electricity alone.

IRGC-run ops (95% illegal) suck 2,000 MW daily — city-scale demand — while civilians get rolling blackouts and hospitals go dark.

This wasn’t a side hustle. Bitcoin was Iran’s #1 sanctions-evasion machine: subsidized energy → unsanctionable hard cash, no SWIFT touch.

They control 2–5% of global #hashrate — 1 in ~25 blocks funding the same IRGC guarding nukes, missiles, borders.

As strikes hit power plants and transmission (already failing grid), mining halts cold. Rigs need constant power; brief outages kill ops.

Expect that 2–5% hashrate plunge overnight — difficulty lags, blocks slow, fees spike.

That $1B annual #crypto revenue stream? Dark. Gone. Just like the centrifuges they’re targeting.

Oil’s surging on Strait fears. Bitcoin? Sliding hard as markets wake up to the real black swan: Iran’s hash vanishing mid-conflict.

Crypto ignored the countdown. Now it’s live.

America’s favorite twins are struggling these days, as Bitcoin’s crash continues to hammer their decade-old crypto exchange, Gemini Space Station Inc.

With Bitcoin down by over 40 percent since its record highs in fall of 2025, Bloomberg reports that shares for Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss’ crypto marketplace have collapsed by more than 80 percent from their 2025 highs, wiping out over $3 billion in market value. The situation seems to be rattling the enterprise to its core, coming the same week that Gemini moved to kick its chief operating officer, financial officer, and legal officer to the curb.

Keep in mind, even though Bitcoin started to tumble late into 2025, the crypto market had a banner year as a whole. If the Winklevii couldn’t make hay while the sun was shining on the best crypto market ever seen following the election of industry super-ally Donald Trump, it tracks that they wouldn’t fare well when the wildly volatile digital currencies inevitably experience a period of bust.

All in all, the continual collapse of one of the longest-standing crypto exchanges is a major red flag for the “industry” writ large, and financial analysts aren’t pulling their punches.

“The biggest issue here is that Gemini’s management team placed a big bet on the crypto bull market run continuing through 2027 and instead crypto asset prices have cratered,” analysts at the investment bank Truist Securities wrote in a note Tuesday viewed by Bloomberg. “Their strategy needs to change.”

The two had previously taken Gemini public on the Nasdaq Index in September, dazzling investors right before things began to turn ugly for crypto in October.

As Truist analyst Matthew Coad told Bloomberg: “they made the wrong bet at the wrong time.”