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Bitcoin mining is heating thousands of homes in Finland [1]

['Gail Sherman']

Date: 2026-01-20  

As of 2025, Bitcoin mining accounts for 0.83% of global electricity use. The mining rigs produce massive heat while performing complex calculations to "earn" coins. That excess heat is usually wasted, with few exceptions. Florida-based MARA Holdings is redirecting that otherwise wasted energy to heat homes in Finland, Grist reports.

Water runs through MARA's miners, stored in black metal units in town centers, cooling them before emerging at 122 to 172 degrees Fahrenheit (50 to 78 degrees Celsius). The water is then pumped underground through existing district heating systems, drastically reducing the need for traditional boilers. MARA's two bitcoin districts have avoided greenhouse gas emissions roughly equivalent to those produced by 700 U.S. homes since the first project launched in 2024.

The district heating systems that warm 80,000 homes typically use boilers fueled by peat or biomass, so waste heat offers additional environmental benefits. While more efficient and climate-friendly energy methods exist, Bitcoin mining appears here to stay for now, so the excess heat might as well be put to good use.

Previously:

• How one guy lost millions of dollars of bitcoin to a hacker

• Bitcoin isn't anonymous — investigators can trace every transaction on the blockchain

• Mysterious $20k Bitcoin transfer to Satoshi Nakamoto's untouched wallet adds to its $117 billion frozen since creator's disappearance in 2011

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