U.S. Senator Ed Markey chaired a meeting of the Environment and Public Works Committee yesterday, focusing on energy usage in Bitcoin mining.

Markey is the sponsor of a bill that would require miners to be more transparent about their environmental impact.

"It (mining) has exploded in the United States over the past two years and is very energy-intensive. We've seen it hurt the public while creating highly concentrated wealth in our country," Markey said, adding that the full impact of mining is still unclear, so his bill would require miners to disclose more information about their operations to environmental regulators. (Decrypt)