Bitcoin Mining Council | Welcome to the open forum of Bitcoin miners

What is the mandate of the BMC?

The mandate of the Bitcoin Mining Council is to promote transparency, share best practices, and educate the public on the benefits of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining.

Who can join?

Any Bitcoin miner with a minimum Hashrate of 500PH can join the council.

What does it mean to be a member of the BMC?

The BMC’s membership is made up of Bitcoin miners who:

• Believe that transparency around energy usage for mining is important and agree to voluntarily share their energy mix and hashrate size for research and educational purposes.

• Agree to share best practices with fellow miners. 

• Promote Bitcoin’s core principles and tenets. Namely, that it is a decentralized, peer to peer, censorship-resistant and open-source protocol. 

How did the BMC come about and whose idea was it?

Michael Saylor convened a meeting attended by a number of large North American miners in May 2021 to discuss energy usage related to Bitcoin mining. At that meeting, the group decided it would be useful to have an open forum where Bitcoin miners could promote transparency, share best practices, and educate the public on the benefits of Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining.

What will the BMC do?

The BMC intends to, among other things, hold a quarterly meetup presenting trends in Bitcoin mining, partner with leading industry researchers to gather data and educate the public on Bitcoin mining, and open source best practices from Bitcoin miners to encourage industry growth

Are there any costs?

There is no cost to join the BMC. The founding members that helped establish BMC will assume the onboarding and operating expenses for the first year of operation. Any excess funding will be given back to Bitcoin core development through an established organization.

How will the BMC work, if Bitcoin is inherently decentralized?

The BMC is just one part of the larger Bitcoin community. We’re a group of independent miners working on improving transparency in the mining industry and sharing best practices. We don’t seek to change the decentralized nature of Bitcoin or its core principles, but rather are working to raise awareness about Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining.

Will the BMC have any teeth?

The BMC is not designed to have “teeth” or tell anyone what to do – we’re all trying to contribute and build a decentralised economy. Everyone is an independent player, but there is always room for conversation and education. The idea of the BMC is to first and foremost share best practices and to educate the public about the work that we’re doing.

Do individual members of the BMC speak on behalf of the council?

The statements of individual members don’t represent the council. Each member is independent and speaks with their own voice.

With the founding members only representing a small percentage of global hashrate, how will the BMC have any impact?

You need to start somewhere. We have received an enormous amount of interest from miners around the world, and expect our membership numbers to grow quickly.  However, this is voluntary, and only miners who believe in the BMC’s mandate should join.

How does the BMC think about Bitcoin’s energy usage?

The BMC believes that Bitcoin’s energy usage is a feature, not a bug, and provides tremendous network security. By providing a voluntary disclosure forum, miners can decide to share their energy sources, in hopes of promoting transparency.

How and why is Michael Saylor involved?

Michael Saylor convened the first meeting attended by a number of large North American miners in late May 2021. He is a key member of the BMC, both as a facilitator and Bitcoin supporter.

Is Elon Musk involved with the BMC? What is his role?

Elon Musk has no role at the BMC. The extent of his involvement was joining an educational call with a group of North American companies to discuss Bitcoin mining.