Cryptocurrency's Impact On The Environment

Crypto is a rapidly growing topic in the 21st century with many people looking to invest in it. However, many do not realize or may be shocked at the fact that crypto is dangerous for the environment. This seems confusing at first as you believe that crypto is online so how is this possible? It all begins with cryptocurrency mining.

What is cryptocurrency mining?

Cryptocurrency mining is essentially the process of millions of computing machines that race to solve a meaningless, complex, problem. This can also be called ‘Proof-of work’. Let’s use bitcoin as an example. The computer or mining machine will keep trying to solve this complex problem, but, when it does it is rewarded. It is given a Bitcoin. Miners will use more machines to increase their chances of winning as the price of Bitcoin increases. Thus, as more and more machines enter this race, the problem becomes more complex, requiring more energy (i.e electricity) to win. It is said between 2021 and 2022 that 27.4 million excess tons of carbon dioxide were produced. Furthermore, earthjustice.org says, “or three times as much as emitted by the largest coal plant in the U.S. in 2021” [...] “Today, the cryptocurrency mining industry already uses half the electricity of the entire global banking sector (while holding a miniscule fraction of the value), and continues to increase”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrtSAgcpack

Even though cryptocurrency mining seems like it creates a big problem for our carbon footprint there could be a way to make it more environmentally friendly. However, this may be unlikely due to the increase in the number of various cryptocurrencies along with the rapid growth of investors and miners. Leading to a problem that could take a longer time to solve.

Source: https://earthjustice.org/features/cryptocurrency-mining-environmental-impacts#:~:text=Top%2Ddown%20estimates%20of%20the,in%20the%20U.S.%20in%202021.