According to Troy Cross, professor at Reed College and member of the Bitcoin Policy Institute, Proof-of-Work mining will allow reduce the carbon footprint of the bitcoin network as well as energy production costs. An announcement that does not please the many detractors of crypto-currencies at all.
Could Bitcoin be greener than we think?
THE reviews The cases against bitcoin and the crypto industry in general regarding pollution are endless. Just last week, in the presence of Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase and Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, GreenPeace USA projected scary statistics on CO2 emissions caused by Bitcoin mining as well as energy consumption.
But surprisingly, Troy Cross tells us that it would be the opposite. First, the uniformity and availability of means of bitcoin production coupled with fungibility lowers barriers to entry. In other words, miners will always prefer to choose the place in the world where electricity is the cheapest possible in order to get the best return on investment.
Then, miners with access to cheaper energy enjoy a huge advantage. If energy represents 70% of your costs and you can achieve energy savings of 50%, you have just reduced expenses by 35%, increasing your margins at the same time. Finally, the halving, or halving of bitcoin issuance will take place in April 2024 and halve the energy consumed to produce bitcoins.
What consequences for the future of BTC?
Bitcoin miners will always go for the greenest energy in the world. This therefore means that Bitcoin will not be responsible for electricity price spikes. Indeed, if the prices in an area increase because of the miners, they will have to move and the prices will fall again. Then, because they always need to look for the cheapest energy possible, bitcoin miners will exploit all additional sources. Examples include gas produced from waste, found in landfills, sewage treatment facilities, farms or oilfields, etc.
Bitcoin has just received weight support. Perhaps the legislator should take a closer look at this new technology to better understand it. Bitcoin could help find the cheapest possible means of energy production?
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