Blockchain and Cryptocurrency: People, Culture and Tech
A new initiative announced Tuesday by the World Economic Forum seeks to use blockchain technology to prevent “greenwashing” by companies that make public promises to improve their environmental credentials.
Remember when Bitcoin’s energy consumption was going to destroy the world? It turns out that the planet’s demise at the hands of crypto miners may have been greatly exaggerated. Bitmain’s recent financial filings and a new change in in how a much-touted number, the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, is calculated should allay fears that crypto will singlehandedly destroy our planet.
Over the last couple of years an argument has ensued regarding the amount of electricity that the Bitcoin network consumes to produce (mine) a coin and ensure the security of its network. Though the electricity itself may be inexpensive in some countries, the environmental cost to produce that needed electricity is building towards insurmountable proportions. In recent testimony before the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Arvind Narayanan stated that assuming “all [Bitcoin] miners use the most energy efficient mining device available on the market” the total energy required by the Bitcoin network is “is slightly under 1% of world electricity consumption.” The key to this figure…
Bitcoin’s white paper came out a decade ago this week, and perhaps a positive sign of its success is this week’s big, dire headline: “Bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming above 2°C.” However, there’s a problem (or, perhaps, not really a problem): the paper was written with the assumption that the Bitcoin bulls and HODL bros are right. Reality may say otherwise, to the benefit of the global environment. Written by seven academics at the University of Hawai‘i and published by Nature, the piece used a significant part of Alex de Vries’ work on his site, Digiconomist. De Vries has been sounding the alarm regarding Bitcoin’s threat to the…
