I was reading a great article today on coindesk by Ian Allison that talked about Bitcoin's sustainability in this new era of climate change activism. It proposed an interesting question that because Bitcoin uses so much computing power to mine blocks, and therefore consumes vast amounts of energy, will it be sustainable in the long term? I would add a follow question to this of: Will or how greatly will this affect mainstream adoption going forward? I think this is a good time to reignite this discussion as climate change and activism has never been more prevalent.

My thoughts are that although Bitcoin uses a considerable amount of energy, when related to climate change and its impact on the environment it pales in comparison to other industries burning of fossil fuels, as well as deforestation and farming. Furthermore, because Bitcoin is reshaping global finance, I feel that it will be around for the long term.

That's not to say Greta Thunberg will ever approve of Bitcoin's mining rigs, but most people, business, and governments will understand Bitcoin offers a valuable technology, even in the face of tightening climate change practices and policies.

But what do you think?

Hi Metenjean, unless you absolutely have to get money, we would never recommend selling at a loss. Especially not during the Covid-19 pandemic. Our advise would be to wait for everything to go back to normal, and you’ll see prices start to rise again. The same goes for the real estate market - as an off topic mention!

Hi fabiorem, In terms of governments shutting down electricity, that probably is unlikely as Hospitals would be affected. Though perhaps in 3rd world countries they could divert the electrical grids to just focus on hospitals, which then would affect Bitcoin mining, etc. Though you're right, as well as Twinkledoe, that there is hysteria, and people are in panic mode, and that is affected everything, including crypto.

Hi SuprHodlr, We agree that the more Bitcoin is spent in as many areas of the economy as possible, the more it will catch on. This has been true when it comes to new start up industries such as social media. The more people actually use bitcoin (and by 'use' we mean actually use it, not just store it) , the more likely retailers will start adopting it as a form of payment. Here in the US of A the government just approved a stimulus package. Perhaps all those hodlers should come together and release their own stimulus package for Bitcoin! AKA - use it!

Hi Twentyonepaylots, It seems that one of the main reasons Bitcoin, and other cryptos are being affected by Covid-19 much more than they were by MERS, etc,  is because of the widespread, systematic shut downs going on all around the world. Entire industries have been forced to close by governments (both capatlist and socialist, democratic and oppressive). This has never happened before on such a large scale, and for so long. Here in the US, and especially here in California, everything will remain closed for probably 12 more weeks. This is causing total panic among people to cash out and just save their money. Unfortunately crypto is not immune to this.

Hi Ifemini, Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin do have scalability issues however there is technology being developed that will drastically help with that. Currently, if you use a Visa card for purchases or paying bills, it can handle 24,000 transactions per second, meanwhile in comparison Bitcoin can only handle 7. However you may have heard the term 'Lightning Network' in reference to Bitcoin. This adds another layer to Bitcoin’s blockchain and enables users to create payment channels between any two parties on that extra layer. These channels can exist for as long as required, and because they’re set up between two people, transactions will be almost instant and the fees will be extremely low or even non-existent. So yes, one day, hopefully soon, the use of crypto to pay bills, etc will be used more and more, and traditional fiat money less.

Blockchain technology still needs to find it’s place in 21st century commerce, however a key aspect of this is clearly merchant adoption. When this becomes widespread, digital currencies like Bitcoin will start to be seen by everyday people as a ‘new kind of money’.