Caveat: Not everyone agrees with Spygen, the NY Times, and the Democrats’ report. Read the comment below by guv geek, which contradicts the article. Always research yourself. Some efforts are now being made to reduce reliance on fossil fuels for Crypto mining.
Did you know that cryptocurrency is using as much power as Argentina and has the carbon footprint of Greece?
According to Spigen, “Tesla CEO Elon Musk rocked the crypto market in 2021 when he said his company would no longer accept bitcoin for vehicle purchases. His reasoning had to do with a large amount of fossil fuel-generated energy required to mine cryptocurrency.
Musk changed his approach and delivered Tesla Megapack batteries to a Texas bitcoin mining facility in May.
“Bitcoin, Ethereum, dogecoin raise concerns about the increasing amount of energy needed to mine the coins.
As the crypto markets crashed in 2022, crypto mining continued to consume roughly as much power as Argentina and to have a carbon footprint equivalent to that of Greece, according to a research report titled “Revisiting bitcoin’s carbon footprint,” published in February.
As the energy bill for crypto mining rises, so does the amount of carbon and waste, adding to the growing climate crisis.”
“The Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index estimated that one bitcoin transaction takes 1,449 kWh to complete, or the equivalent of approximately 50 days of power for the average US household. ”
WHAT IS CRYPTOCURRENCY MINING
“When bitcoins are traded, computers across the globe race to complete a computation that creates a 64-digit hexadecimal number, or hash, for that bitcoin. This hash goes into a public ledger so anyone can confirm that the transaction for that particular bitcoin happened. The computer that solves the computation first gets a reward of 6.2 bitcoins, or about $134,000 at current prices,” Spigen reports.
“Other cryptocurrencies and NFTs use similar mining technologies, contributing to the overall energy usage.”
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The process creates individual blocks added to a blockchain by solving complex mathematical problems. The mining verifies the cryptocurrency transactions and shows proof of work.
This process uses a node run on a device with extremely high processing power called a mining rig or a Bitcoin mining app. As an incentive, miners receive a reward in cryptocurrency for each block added to the chain. This reward is how new coins are generated and put into circulation.
Crypto mining involves several proof systems depending on the type of cryptocurrency. Since the blockchain is decentralized, mining is uniquely different from central banks and the creation of fiat.
The process of mining is energy costly and requires expensive hardware and software.
Read all about it at block geeks.
In any case, it’s using an absurd amount of electricity and causing prices to rise exponentially. It’s making it harder to fight global warming.
According to the New York Times reporting on a Democrat investigation, “seven of the largest Bitcoin mining companies in the United States are set up to use nearly as much electricity as all the homes in Houston.”
“Research has shown that a surge in crypto mining is also significantly raising energy costs for local residents and small businesses, and has added to the strain on the power grid in states like Texas.”
“Earlier this year, congressional Democrats launched an investigation into energy use at the country’s largest crypto mining companies. They asked seven crypto mining companies for data on their operations, and the group’s findings, issued Friday, are based on the companies’ responses.
“That data showed that the seven companies alone had set up to tap as much as 1,045 megawatts of power, or enough electricity to power all the residences in a city the size of Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city with 2.3 million residents. The companies also said they plan to expand their capacity at an eye-popping rate.”
“Overall, the biggest seven crypto mining companies expected to increase their total mining capacity by at least 2,399 megawatts in the coming years, an increase of nearly 230 percent from current levels, and enough energy to power 1.9 million residences.”
They use fossil fuels, for the most part, even coal.
This is crazy but everything going on lately is crazy.
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