Mine Bitcoin, Save the Planet.
By George Akhvlediani on ALTCOIN MAGAZINE
If you search “Cryptocurrency environment bad”, you could see something like this.
Some spooky headlines have arrived just in time for Halloween. I think my favorites here are Bitcoin’s Dirty Environmental Secret Could be More Costly Than We Ever Expected and Bitcoin Emissions Could Propel Planet to Critical Climate Threshold, Study Says.
However, (and as you probably know) the notion of Bitcoin-induced climate collapse is a persistent trend. As far as I can tell, it seems to have kicked off at the start of winter last year. Last year’s set of spicy headlines included Bitcoin is Terrible for the Environment and SHOCK CLAIM: Bitcoin is DESTROYING the planet and uses as much energy as DENMARK.
Whoa, how is this possible? Even if some headlines exaggerate, this claim can’t be baseless, right? Are the spurious antics of crypto-profiteers driving ecological devastation?
As it turns out, Bitcoin mining continues to be cost-effective in spite of scaling energy costs. We can safely assume bitcoins are worth more than the electricity used to mine them.
We should consider that for a moment. Why is this unit of electronic currency so valuable? Cryptocurrency is an alternative to fiat (or government-backed) currency. While the latter is tethered (ostensibly) to the economic conditions of its constituency, the former is distinguished as a decentralized medium for peer-to-peer transactions.
Cryptocurrency users observe an asset in the absence of transaction intermediaries. Why? A decade ago, Satoshi Nakamoto issued his proposal, A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. Therein, Nakamoto outlines an electronic transaction scheme with proof-of-work as an inoculation against fraud and network attacks.
Proof-of-work is Bitcoin’s guarantor, in lieu of trusting third parties to facilitate transactions and to maintain total system security. Authentication is computationally expensive by design, hence the high energy cost that elicits all these deep concerns.
Evidently, the prospect of “trusting” governments and third party companies is dubious enough to fuel the proliferation of cryptocurrency. People wouldn’t be mining if others weren’t buying. Thanks to corporate-endorsed & state-enforced electronic surveillance, anonymity and security have become precious commodities. The combined overreach and incompetence of these institutions has incited a financial arms race. Fortunately, cryptocurrency has emerged as a promising alternative to the global e-commerce oligopoly.
That may sound like a stretch, I’ll elaborate. Both government agencies and corporations have varying degrees of access to your personal data and even your financial resources. Before cryptocurrency, companies like Visa, Mastercard and Paypal had the exclusive power to decide who can exchange money online. Financial censorship is still a serious problem, but cryptocurrency mitigates it to an extent, and will continue to with more widespread adoption.
Now, to the topic of personal data. Government agencies and corporations require your data in exchange for their services. They also harvest supplementary data (material not required for their services) with or without your consent. They might even sell this to third parties. Perhaps this doesn’t bother you, but they can’t even guarantee that sensitive information is stored securely.
Cryptocurrency is not nearly as vulnerable as fiat e-commerce in this respect, but it also denies governments and global banks opportunities to extort data and capital. Cryptocurrency eliminates the exclusive privileges of tracking account activity and levying taxes/fees. Everyone can see transactions on the public ledger, but that’s it.
Using cryptocurrency doesn’t completely protect you from state/corporate interference, but it can significantly diminish their leverage over you. It’s a big step in the right direction.
If I were working for a prominent international bank, I would push governments to impose restrictions on cryptocurrency, starting with Bitcoin. After all, the easiest way to win the game is change its rules. Naturally, I’d also rally public support for this.
The eco-scare narrative provokes the conscientious nature of potential dissidents. It is as if to say, “Using Bitcoin makes you just as bad as the industries you oppose.” They would deny you an opportunity to compete with them, on the premise that you generate too much pollution. Obviously, they’ll keep on polluting either way. Who’s going to stop them? They run the banks.
Be especially wary of the journalists bemoaning Bitcoin’s eco-butchery. Many are wholly complicit in the civic surveillance apparatus that makes privacy so attractive. They’re either eager stooges, or too stupid to recognize their role.
No matter what, you can’t indict profligacy in cryptocurrency without implicitly attributing the same condition to the global economy that both enables and fosters demand for it.
If Bitcoin miners consume too much electricity, why not impose universal constraints on power consumption? Of course, this restriction would have to apply to companies, and every industry would be caught in the crossfire. Wouldn’t want that, would we?
Apparently we don’t need to stop using electricity, just Bitcoin. Isn’t that convenient? Some articles note that crypto miners are chasing cheap coal energy in China. Clearly the problem is Bitcoin and not, I dunno, CHINA.
It isn’t Bitcoin’s fault that you can mine much as you can afford. That is how an energy market works. Given the potential returns on investment, you could argue that mining is among the least wasteful uses of electricity. Furthermore, Bitcoin regulations won’t prevent energy waste. Further still, “wastefulness” is beside the point if overusing electricity is killing us anyways.
If I could surrender my Bitcoin to solve this problem, I would. Look, I hate burning coal as much as everyone else, but China won’t stop burning coal just because coin companies can’t turn a profit. We have to be more serious about energy impacts across the board. Chasing phantom fads is a waste of time.
However, cryptocurrency could diminish our dependence on financial oligopolies and governments that have no compelling obligation to eliminate pollution. It’s a start. If you truly support ecological preservation, you’ll probably want to invest in cryptocurrency. Otherwise, all the business you conduct relies on institutions that can obstruct you on a whim. “Mine Bitcoin, Save the Planet?” is a request, or a call to arms. I’m not claiming that mining Bitcoin will save the planet. I am proposing that to fight for a cleaner future, you’ll want assets unfettered by the titans of global industry.
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