Bitcoin/Crypto Carbon Tax?

[bryant.coleman]

The problem with renewable resources is that most of them are pretty expensive which can take up to years to upset the cost. Just because fiat is the enemy of cryptocurrency doesn't mean that they are not innovating too, I think that there isn't going to be a need to cut trees anymore as time goes on because most fiat are slowly going to the polymer type of currency and most of the current fiat is not purely paper because if that were the case, a one time exposure to water is going to destroy that fiat, they are a mixture of cotton and other things to make it sturdy against elements.

It doesn't matter whether fiat currency is made of paper, polymer or cotton. All of these components are damaging to the nature, and the most important thing to note here is that the fiat banknotes needs to be replaced after a few years of usage. Polymer banknotes may last more compared to those made from paper, but even they have a limited lifespan. The beauty with Bitcoin is that once it is mined, the coins are indestructible.

And I agree with the argument related to renewable sources of energy. As of now, they are more expensive when compared to coal or natural gas generated electricity. But the gap is narrowing very rapidly, and very soon electricity from the renewable sources will be on par with that from non-renewable sources as far as the cost is concerned. In 2018, the average cost of solar generated electricity was estimated at $0.085 per KWh. Not as cheap as coal generated electricity, but not that high either.

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[ModelT]

I agree with those who say a carbon tax should, be applied to all activities, not just btc mining. It was pointed out by @aoluain that many European countries already do this. How much btc mining takes place in countries with high carbon taxes like Sweden? My guess is that it's lower than the % of btc owned by residents of these countries.

What if these countries determined that buying/holding btc from foreign minors who use untaxed fossil fuel generated electricity was a loophole (as @odolvlobo alluded to) they wanted to close as these foreign carbon emissions affect their citizens? The US has very complex laws to try to tax foreign profits of their citizens, so why wouldn't environmentally conscious countries also place carbon taxes on their citizens who consume carbon intensive goods manufactured abroad?

[hulla]

Who thinks that multiple countries will end up imposing a carbon tax on crytocurrency owners & miners? If this is done, what would happen to the price of BTC? Do you think bitcoin would make changes to adapt (like ending mining sooner than 2140)?

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-26/is-bitcoin-mining-worth-the-environmental-cost

After the institutions and some private joined the cryptocurrency investment I have the feeling that sooner or later a lot of countries will impose a tax on cryptocurrency owners and miners but I don't see any reason for the implementation of multiple taxes not to talk about the carbon tax afterall crypto miners use electricity, not gas or fluid that will discharge carbon dioxide.
Having said that, our own opinion doesn't count in the government decision but if any case such tax is developed it won't affect the price of Bitcoin but the will be increasing in transaction fees.

Would Bitcoin be secure with fewer miners?

Yes. In fact, we have the LN.

[androyster]

From Wikipedia:

A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon content of goods and services, predominantly in the transport and energy sectors.

Bitcoin does NOT have any carbon content, it does NOT burn any carbon-based fuels, it does NOT emit any kind of pollution at all. Bitcoin is a user of the electricity that is provided by the electric companies. If a miner is supposed to pay carbon tax then you too should also pay it for your fridge, TV,... basically any time you use electricity!

Never underestimate what a government will do to raise taxes on its minions.

[ModelT]

Well, if the mines could lower their carbon footprint, then they can use that to get some benefits like taxes being slashed or other benefits that I couldn't think of for the reason that in my country, there isn't a lot of carbon footprint involved laws imposed although there are a lot of factories in my city.

In the future, electricity consumption will go down drastically as mining equipment manufacturers will be able to manufacture rigs that are more energy efficient. Also, there will be a move towards renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy. That said, I don't understand why no one is talking about the carbon footprint for fiat currency. Do you guys know how many hectares of forest is cut down every year, to print banknotes?

Haven't mining equipment manufacturers improved energy efficiency the past decade? The problem is that it's taking more and more hashing power to mine less bicoin, so overall, the miners are emitting more green house gases. This is likely to continue if the BTC price continues to rise.  Bitcoin is ingenious, but this is one of its design flaws. Can you name any other industry where the manufacturing output has gone down over 85% in the past decade, but seen its green house gas emissions go up exponentially?

The question the BTC community should be asking is what is the best way for bitcoin to quickly reduce its green house gas emissions back to its 2015 level?
1. Carbon Tax
2. Code/Protocol Change
3. Price Decrease
4. Something Else

[odolvlobo]

In the future, electricity consumption will go down drastically as mining equipment manufacturers will be able to manufacture rigs that are more energy efficient.

That is a misconception. In general, the cost of mining approaches the value of the block reward and mining efficiency has no effect on the amount of energy used. In theory, if the efficiency of mining is increased by a factor of 10, then the number of miners will increase by a factor of 10, so the amount of electricity used is unchanged.

History shows this to be true. The efficiency of mining has gone from about 1 MH/J in 2009 to about 30000 MH/J today. Despite that 30000x increase in efficiency, the amount of electricity used has still risen (and by a factor of about 40000x)

Do you guys know how many hectares of forest is cut down every year, to print banknotes?

Cutting down forests is considered carbon neutral if the forests are replanted.

[Vaskiy]

Maybe if the country find an increase in the carbon emission from mining of cryptocurrencies, then there is chance of imposing such taxes over the miners. This tax can't be collected from the Bitcoin holders. Mining being the backbone to the cryptocurrency network, when some tax is being collected from the miners, the same gets connected with the increase in the transaction fee. This way such taxes could affect the bitcoin usage.

However it is a difficult task to tax in such a way, because governments won't easily identify the small scale miners and people holding bitcoin.

[tinopener]

I certainly think the world will take action on the Bitcoin carbon footprint.

This has been put off because of Covid, and many people have been bored at home buying bitcoin during lockdown, even company CEOs

When the lockdowns end and we have the next climate conference https://ukcop26.org/ then the tone will change.

I think the only way for Bitcoin to survive is if the Bitcoin community and especially the whales invest profit in making Bitcoin carbon neutral.

[ModelT]

I certainly think the world will take action on the Bitcoin carbon footprint.

This has been put off because of Covid, and many people have been bored at home buying bitcoin during lockdown, even company CEOs

When the lockdowns end and we have the next climate conference https://ukcop26.org/ then the tone will change.

I think the only way for Bitcoin to survive is if the Bitcoin community and especially the whales invest profit in making Bitcoin carbon neutral.

I tend to agree with you, but you never know with politicians. While one French politician is signing a petition to hold BTC, India is talking about banning crytos altogether.

To me, the head scratcher is Musk. I think he could have made even more profit for Tesla by buying and endorsing a smaller, greener cryto than BTC.

There are a lot of companies that are trying to stay politically ahead of and reduce their carbon footprints. I think the bitcoin community would be wise to do the same, but is it the whales or miners who control things?

[aysg76]

Who thinks that multiple countries will end up imposing a carbon tax on crytocurrency owners & miners? If this is done, what would happen to the price of BTC? Do you think bitcoin would make changes to adapt (like ending mining sooner than 2140)? Would Bitcoin be secure with fewer miners?

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-01-26/is-bitcoin-mining-worth-the-environmental-cost

Imposing such taxes would be impractical by the government's because miners are already paying taxes in the form of profits and then you pay for the electricity you are using.The governments can increase the cost of electricity for miners which can reduce profits but still it would not compromise the Bitcoin mining network because btc prices will also be high at that time covering loss of miners.Ukraine has recently started a nuclear plant for Bitcoin mining how much heat and carbon it will ommit think of it? They are also exploiting natural and human resources to mine crypto and Bitcoin so they would not be imposing such taxes in near future.

[galestorm]

Sweden has already imposed a carbon tax, but miners dont usually do their operations on places that would cost them a lot on bills. That's why almost half of the world’s Bitcoin mining capacity is situated in southwest China, where power is cheap, less taxed and supplied by coal-fired plants as well as hydroelectricity. If multiple countries end up imposing a carbon tax on bitcoin then the number of miners will certainly decrease, but that wont stop them from doing so. Regarding the price, i guess the more scarce it is, the higher the price will be.