Deutsche Telekom to test surplus energy use for Bitcoin mining

Deutsche Telekom, through its subsidiary MMS, is joining forces with Bankhaus Metzler to pilot the use of surplus renewable energy to mine Bitcoin (BTC).

The collaboration, announced in a press release on Nov. 4, aims at a Bitcoin mining infrastructure operation that taps into renewable energy sources that would otherwise remain unused.

Deutsche Telekom eyes Bitcoin innovation in Germany

According to the Telekom announcement, the pilot project will offer field data and insights that will be used to inform upcoming projects on BTC mining.

For this pilot project, Metis Solutions will be the hosting partner. Meanwhile, the mining container will be at RIVA Engineering in Backnang, Germany.

“With the growing number of renewable energy sources and the resulting fluctuations in available energy, the need for quickly available regulating power increases. For this, we need mechanisms that can respond quickly to changes and absorb fluctuations,” Oliver Nyderle, head of digital trust & web3 infrastructure at Deutsche Telekom MMS, said.

Nyderle added that the partnership with Bankhaus Metzler and RIVA Engineering is a step towards gauging BTC miners’ effect on the energy grid.

The initiative will measure this via digital values representing the surplus energy – which the project calls “digital monetary photosynthesis,” Nyderle added.

The regulation of power via Bitcoin mining has been implemented successfully in the United States and Finland.

MMS and Bankhaus Metzler partnership targets similar validation for Germany, Telekom pointed out in the press release.

“Our goal is to gain experience in various application areas to further advance the innovative power of blockchain technology in Germany. Therefore, we are very pleased to be part of this pilot project with Telekom MMS. Blockchain technology is gaining increasing importance in operational business outside the financial industry – and a trusted financial partner is indispensable for managing crypto assets,” said Hendrik König, head of the digital assets office at Bankhaus Metzler.

Deutsche Telekom’s web3 steps

Telekom MMS has gained significant traction in the crypto market since 2020, with this another huge step in its web3 venture. In the last few years, Telekom has provided infrastructure for some of the leading blockchain protocols in the industry.

These include Chainlink, Fetch.ai, Polkadot, and Polygon.

In 2021, Deutsche Telekom announced its investment in Celo, revealing it had purchased the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform’s native token CELO.

Another big move was in September 2022, when the telecommunications giant announced support for Ethereum. This saw it start providing services as a validator node as the Ethereum blockchain network switched from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

Telekom’s T-Systems MMS also added support for liquid staking.

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