Bitcoin Asia 2025: Mining Hubs And A $1 Million Dream

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If it were to reach the $1 million mark, its total value would exceed $21 trillion, overtaking gold and challenging equities and bonds as the central pillars of global capital.

The author believes that if Bitcoin were ever to hit $1 million per coin, circulation would diminish sharply, transforming it from a medium of exchange into a reserve asset-potentially more valuable than gold itself.

Yet the path toward such a milestone is far from smooth. Bitcoin's ascent depends not only on investor conviction but also on its ability to overcome formidable constraints.

Regulation remains the foremost obstacle: the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), the EU's MiCA framework and China's prohibitions all cast uncertainty over exchange operations and cross-border flows, directly affecting confidence.

Market depth, too, is limited. With daily trading volumes of $30–50 billion and low payment adoption, sustaining a $21 trillion valuation is anything but straightforward.

Energy and environmental concerns are equally pressing. Bitcoin mining already consumes an estimated 0.5% to 1% of global electricity, drawing ESG scrutiny and raising cost pressures that could cap hashrate expansion.

Competition is also intensifying, as Ethereum and other assets divert capital; Bitcoin's dominance hovers around 50–60%. Beyond economics, technological uncertainty looms: the limited adoption of the Lightning Network – and the long-term risk posed by quantum computing – remain unresolved questions.

Ultimately, all these challenges converge on a single axis: regulatory uncertainty. It influences liquidity, adoption and institutional participation more directly than any other factor – and may well determine whether Bitcoin's“million-dollar dream” is ever realized.

Photo: Jeffrey Sze The miners' perspective

Bitcoin Asia became not just an industry forum but a rallying point for morale. Liu Siyu – a long-time entrepreneur and fund investor in tech finance who operates large-scale mining farms, and who was listed on Forbes China's 30 Under 30 in 2017 and the Hurun 30×30 leadership list – attended the conference.

He summarized his philosophy succinctly:“Speculating on coins is inferior to holding them; holding coins is inferior to mining them.”

The author adds: Bitcoin mining is heavily dependent on energy. Cheap, stable and continuous electricity – such as hydro or wind at costs as low as $0.03 per kilowatt-hour – is the competitive core, often accounting for 60–80% of total costs.

Mining is technically demanding, involving:

• Hardware: ASIC miners optimized for SHA-256, with advanced chip design, efficient cooling, and high-performance computing (e.g., Bitmain Antminer).

• Operations: network management, mining pool optimization and security.

Mining is thus not crude consumption but a composite industry – one that sits at the intersection of energy, semiconductors and digital infrastructure.

Photo: Jeffrey Sze