Topline
As bitcoin pushes to new heights, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates is shocked by the discovery of cryptocurrency’s high-carbon growth – which is only going to get worse as it breasts. mainstream adoption of the world’s largest cryptocurrency going up as expected.
Bill Gates will address the Sixth World Fund Conference in Lyon, France, on October 10, … [+]
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Key facts
“Bitcoin uses more electricity per transaction than any other method known to mankind,” Gates told the New York Times in a recent interview, saying he’s a “bitcoin skeptic,” and saying “climate is not a good thing.”
To Gates’ point, Alex de Vries, a data scientist at the Dutch Central Bank, estimates that each bitcoin transaction requires an average of 300 kg of carbon dioxide (CO2) – equivalent to the carbon footprint made with about 750,000 Visa swipes.
That’s because almost all cryptocurrencies, bitcoin included, record every single transaction on what’s called a public ledger, which helps ensure that transactions are transparent and safe from obstruction, but continuously require additional storage space, or “blocks.”
Blocks created by miners, who receive bitcoin for their work, run code around the clock on special hardware called rigs – a process that consumes the same amount of energy each year (approx. 78.5 terawatt-hours) to countries such as Chile, Austria and Finland.
Reinforcing the problem, mining networks are largely based in China, which derives much of its power from fossil fuels such as coal, and as the cryptocurrency becomes more popular, its energy consumption has gone up by a factor of 10 since just 2017.
“Adding cryptocurrencies to a portfolio will make it greener,” says Gerald Moser, Barclays Private Bank’s chief market strategist, adding that mining generates the same amount of electronic waste as countries like Luxembourg, with that mining equipment usually goes out of business every 18 months or so.
Quote Cruise
“Mining is a process that makes Bitcoin full of energy by design, as the frontier currency requires a large amount of… computation for its ultimate goal of processing transactions. finance without intermediaries (peers), ”said de Vries, creator of Digiconomist, a website that monitors bitcoin power consumption, in 2014.
Amazing info
One bitcoin transaction uses about 707.6 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy – equivalent to the power the average U.S. household consumes over 24 days, according to Digiconomist. Each year, bitcoin consumes more energy than all but 38 countries, falling according to countries such as Finland, Chile and Austria.
Tangent
The Inner Mongolia region plans to close its cryptocurrency mining projects by April after failing to meet government-led targets for lower energy consumption in 2019. The U.S. has not declined to federal, but some states – such as New York and Washington – have imposed restrictions on mining.
Lead critic
“We believe that the ultimate cryptocurrency will be fully powered by clean energy, eliminating carbon footprinting and driving global adoption of renewables,” said Square Chief Jack Dorsey. in December as the company announced the launch of their Bitcoin Clean Energy Investment Initiative, a $ 10 million fund for companies that make bitcoin mining more energy efficient.
Further reading
Why Bill Gates worries about Bitcoin (New York Times)
New report shows China controls Bitcoin mining, Is this a sign of concern? (Forbes)