The Greening of Cryptocurrency: Early Players in Sustainable Blockchain
A cryptocurrency mining module next to a solar power array. (source: BusinessWire)
will be greener. It is inevitable.
There are a number of promising initiatives underway to improve the energy profile of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and accelerate the shift to a sustainable blockchain sector. These include more use of renewable energy, but also a range of other initiatives to embrace more energy-efficient protocols, carbon offsets, demand response and greener mining pools.
The past week’s selloff in the cryptocurrency markets has focused attention on Bitcoin’s energy usage, and its reliance on fossil fuels for the mining operations that secure its blockchain operations. A recent study by Cambridge University found that about 39 percent of the Bitcoin network is powered by renewable energy. This is an international challenge, as the U.S. represents about 7 percent of the global hashrate, compared to
May 13, 2021
Sometimes it seems like bitcoin is worth whatever Tesla founder Elon Musk and star stock picker Cathie Wood say it is. But what happens if they disagree?
A host of crypto assets took a hit yesterday when Musk said the electric car company would stop accepting bitcoin as payment until it is produced using more sustainable sources of energy. “We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, and especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel,” Musk said on Twitter. The mercurial entrepreneur said Tesla, which makes a large chunk of its profit from selling carbon tax credits, wouldn’t sell its bitcoin holdings and would investigate other crypto assets that use less energy.