The effects of Bitcoin on the environment: how much and how does cryptocurrency mining pollute?

In the midst of the fight against climate change, there is an enemy that does not materialize as other forms of pollution do, but whose impact is a great threat to the environment: cryptocurrencies. More precisely, the mining of cryptocurrencies.

Since the birth of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin Y ethereum, along with the high economic value they represent, more people are becoming interested in the world of cryptocurrencies. However, they may not be aware of the serious polluting impact that a single Bitcoin transaction has and the mining it takes to obtain them. How do cryptocurrencies affect the environment?

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Environmental impact of cryptocurrencies

In short, cryptocurrencies and crypto mining.

or blockchain. As explained by Miguel Ángel Mendoza, a security researcher at ESET Latin Americathe blockchain is a technology that works as a chain of information records in which each link is a unique and unalterable aggregate of data.

(Photo: Freepik)

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In the case of cryptocurrencies, each link represents a cryptocurrency. , that is, generate new coins. The problem arises when, in order to mine Bitcoins, the computers need processors that work with a lot of energy consumption.

“These are rooms and rooms where you have multiple processors operating”, Mendoza commented for Trade. “For example, the Bitcoin network generates an annual electricity consumption of around 129 TeraWatt-hours (TWh). It is even estimated to be higher than the energy consumption of some countries”. In addition, says the expert, electricity is also consumed by the necessary cooling mechanisms to compensate for the heating of the processors.

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Just considering Bitcoin, since its launch, it has become harder to generate (mine) new units, so crypto miners are using as much electricity as possible to get them. The miners are rewarded not with money, but with 6.25 Bitcoin. To the date, a Bitcoin is worth US$19,000according to the coinbase portal.

How much does crypto mining pollute?

According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI), the network of Bitcoin uses more energy per year that countries like the Philippines, Chile and Belgium. Crypto mining pollutes because this consumed energy is generated, for the most part, by fossil fuelsone of the sources that produces the most CO2.

(Photo: Freepik) (sinenkiy/)

For reference, according to a study by the Digiconomist medium, a single Bitcoin transaction equals 2,200.25 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electrical energy. This expense translates into a carbon footprint of 1,045.12 kg of CO2. For reference, this value is equivalent to the playback of 174,187 hours of videos on YouTube. So too, a transaction represents 292.40 gr of electronic wastewhich would be equal to 1.78 iPhones 12.

In general, according to the consultancy Visual Capitalist, if Bitcoin were a country, it would have the 29th highest energy consumption in the worldout of a total of 196.

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Could crypto mining contamination be reversed?

Mendoza explains that a first step is for processors. However, the biggest solution would be change energy sources for more friendly alternatives with the environment.

On the other hand, there is a modality that cryptominers use to collect bitcoins avoiding using their own machines: cryptojacking. It is an illegal practice of miners to introduce malware onto other users’ computers without them realizing it.

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According to Mendoza, one way cryptojacking operates is through websites with compromised servers. Once the miner is inside the victim’s computer, start mining crypto from there. As a consequence, the victim is left with a slowed-down machine and also takes care of energy consumption necessary to mine.

Source: Elcomercio