Is it true that this cryptocurrency/bitcoin boom poses a threat to Earth.

[milesfull]

People are care about global warming too much. Earth is getting warmer even without humans at all. Also, gov waste much more electricity than crypto. Wake up people

[icobits]

The threat is in the form of increasing global warming which results in climate change. Generating Bitcoin requires a capable computer to solve complex mathematical puzzles and high electricity consumption. so that some countries prohibit mining for several other reasons such as in China and Iran some time ago. if so will bitacoin and others be able to run forever or is this just an excuse to change the green field to red..

According to google 0.55% of total global power consumption are used by mining bitcoins & other cryptocurrency. It will be unfair to put the blame on bitcoin mining alone since its less than 1% of what the world consume. Even if bitcoin mining stops it will not have an immediate effect on lessening the global warming.

[Shasha80]

The threat is in the form of increasing global warming which results in climate change. Generating Bitcoin requires a capable computer to solve complex mathematical puzzles and high electricity consumption. so that some countries prohibit mining for several other reasons such as in China and Iran some time ago. if so will bitacoin and others be able to run forever or is this just an excuse to change the green field to red..

According to google 0.55% of total global power consumption are used by mining bitcoins & other cryptocurrency. It will be unfair to put the blame on bitcoin mining alone since its less than 1% of what the world consume. Even if bitcoin mining stops it will not have an immediate effect on lessening the global warming.

I believe the consumption of electricity used for mining cryptocurrencies will not be the cause of global warming. Because all factories in the world
consume large amounts of electricity, this is the cause of global warming. It would be unfair to completely blame crypto mining, as you have mentioned, according to data alone, it is not up to 1% of electricity usage for crypto mining. So don't be easily influenced by the news circulating now, sometimes
it doesn't tell the truth.

[Obito]

Yes it's true, it will be used by aliens to destroy the world because bitcoin is their source of fuel for their weapons of mass destruction so yeah it poses a threat to Earth. Kidding aside though, where did you get those stuff, are high or something? It's definitely not the electricity consumption because bitcoin is just a consumer and not a power source so I don't see how it's going to be a threat to Earth.

[DatKing]

Before it comes to cryptocurrencies, there are so many things which are causing harm to the environment. And their affect is much bigger than Bitcoin mining for example. People shouldn't overlook this and criticize only cryptocurrencies.

[Henrobakkara]

no, because the use of electricity for crypto mining is still quite normal. The people of the world should focus on the whole factory, because they are the ones who cause too much pollution to the earth. after all, currently POW is no longer the main thing, because there are already POS and others.

Exactly,  there are no such mining farms in the world right now as we have many factories scattered all over the world with the constant population they generate on a daily basis both on air and sea, chemical spills and disposal of toxic waste into the atmosphere possess a more dangerous situation to the human health, why nobody is paying attention to that,

some of this factories have been running for years long before btc and btc mining will ever become a thing,  humans has always endure this pollution and the environment threat,  it seem very easy to shift the blame of global warming to btc mining rather than the obvious.

That is the rationale they are trying to push which most of us right-thinking people know it is not true. As you mentioned, there have been many Industries that have posses more hazards to the environment physically and even when it comes to the power consumption issue we are talking about which they have not worried about.

This research report from Galaxy Digital shows some statistics of energy consumption between Banking, Gold, and Bitcoin



I guess this speaks for itself. There are many more industries and Utilities that consume more energy per year than Bitcoin mining per year but nobody talks about those.

So like we already know, all this talk about bitcoins mining energy consumption is going to damage the earth is just some conspiracy to bring Bitcoin down.

[conected]

The threat is in the form of increasing global warming which results in climate change. Generating Bitcoin requires a capable computer to solve complex mathematical puzzles and high electricity consumption. so that some countries prohibit mining for several other reasons such as in China and Iran some time ago. if so will bitacoin and others be able to run forever or is this just an excuse to change the green field to red..

According to google 0.55% of total global power consumption are used by mining bitcoins & other cryptocurrency. It will be unfair to put the blame on bitcoin mining alone since its less than 1% of what the world consume. Even if bitcoin mining stops it will not have an immediate effect on lessening the global warming.

I believe the consumption of electricity used for mining cryptocurrencies will not be the cause of global warming. Because all factories in the world
consume large amounts of electricity, this is the cause of global warming. It would be unfair to completely blame crypto mining, as you have mentioned, according to data alone, it is not up to 1% of electricity usage for crypto mining. So don't be easily influenced by the news circulating now, sometimes
it doesn't tell the truth.

- I think bitcoin also promotes global warming but it is not the strongest cause, besides bitcoin, a lot of industrial parks consume high power, the exhaust gas purification system is still not good, a lot of deforestation events and problems affecting nature, the government is correcting and improving that, bitcoin's fault is very little in this regard. Even as experts try to sort out the causes that might threaten the earth, bitcoin is still not listed here, the information is really inaccurate and there are many points of dislike for bitcoin while bitcoin is almost safe for everyone

[TangentC]

Bitcoin Cultist ....

So in your opinion , China and Iran have been banning bitcoin mining , not to protect their power grids, like they said,
but just as a way to mess with bitcoiners.

Keep thinking that right until the majority of countries have banned bitcoin mining.  

You know it is not like people have not been warning bitcoiners about the increasing energy waste since 2013.

How many Bank branches have been banned to protect the power grids, not one.

Banks usage is spread out over multiple power grids, they don't drop the majority of their energy usage on just a few grids
like Bitcoin PoW miners.

Any grid, that has half a country energy usage added by btc miners within a year will buckle under the strain.
I would say , you might get a clue , when your grid collapses, but the truth is the Government officials will have no choice but to ban bitcoin mining way before that happens as China and Iran are doing.
Enjoy your bitcoiner cultist beliefs , until all of the bitcoin mining is banned.

FYI:
Solutions to the Bitcoin PoW energy issues are:
1. All Bitcoin PoW mining is just banned.
2. Convert to PoS
3. Regulate the location and max energy usage of Bitcoin Mining warehouse so their are never enough to cause a power grid collapse.  * Example, The current energy usage would have to be cut by a factor of 5X.*
  

 

[ChrisPop]

It has been shown that Bitcoin mining uses like 0.x% of world's energy consumption and much of that is green energy.
We must ask ourselves - is the risk bigger with or without Bitcoin in our world?

- My opinion is that the problems Bitcoin solves are directly or indirectly much more impactful on the global warming. I agree that governments should incentivise and accelerate green energy utilization and off-setting carbon emissions, but that is no reason to "ban" or discredit Bitcoin just because securing the network requires energy. Almost everything today uses electricity and none bring the benefits of the Bitcoin network.

[Argoo]

I do not think that this is some kind of global problem, however, the problem of using carbohydrate energy in Bitcoin mining has been raised and governments will definitely use it in order to denigrate Bitcoin and other types of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin consumes any energy that is available in the region, as well as other consumers. If the world as a whole switches to renewable energy sources, then this energy will be consumed by bitcoin. However, in the future, miners need to think about using solar panels or wind generators for mining, the production of which is becoming cheaper.

[worle1bm]

The threat is in the form of increasing global warming which results in climate change. Generating Bitcoin requires a capable computer to solve complex mathematical puzzles and high electricity consumption. so that some countries prohibit mining for several other reasons such as in China and Iran some time ago. if so will bitacoin and others be able to run forever or is this just an excuse to change the green field to red..

I somehow think that what government or people who hated Bitcoin are succeeding in convincing people that Bitcoin is type of threat to our planet.So how well do you know the process of mining Bitcoin as whole like ASIC machines,memepool, hasrate,miners, cryptographic puzzles etc? Some cryptocurrencies are using POS which do not need any consumption to find solutions for block so you need to know that also.

Remaining the question of electricity consumption it has been discussed many times but in reality don't you know mining procedure have devastated environment from decades and cost of lives of many labour class.So we can also raise a question that is bitcoin taking life's of people unlike others activities like mining for metals like gold,coal,cobalt, lithium.

EV uses cobalt which is rare metal and they are exhausting it for vast consumption and destroying environment but nothing major discussion about them.Banks and other also uses high electricity consumption which is very less as compared to bitcoin.This only until 21 million coins are mined but other will still consume same or even more energy.So think about it.

[kryptqnick]

The climate change threat is very real, and I truly believe it's going to be the biggest challenge of this century. But it's not a threat to Earth, of course, but to humanity. Earth will bounce back eventually, but if humans don't to something very fast, more harsh weather changes are coming, many places will be under water so people will need to relocate, and all this will cost tons of money to the global economy. But if only fixing climate change were so simple like quitting using cryptos. Crypto mining contributes to climate change, but that's because of the sources of electricity. Apart from energy sources, there's also transportation, the meat industry, deforestation and many other things. So we have to tackle them as a compound, not focus on a drop of water in the sea.

[sapnu]

The threat is in the form of increasing global warming which results in climate change. Generating Bitcoin requires a capable computer to solve complex mathematical puzzles and high electricity consumption. so that some countries prohibit mining for several other reasons such as in China and Iran some time ago. if so will bitacoin and others be able to run forever or is this just an excuse to change the green field to red..

It can really be damaging for the earth if bitcoin will be mined abusively. Fossil fuel is needed in order for the blockchain to keep on running. If we can remember, Elon Musk used it as his reason to remove bitcoin as a mode of payment for Tesla. Also, most of the countries considers it as one of the main reason why they are not tolerating the use of bitcoin. It is not just an excuse, we may actually feel the pay back soon if ever people would keep on abusing mining. We should make sure that we are only mining enough not to the point that we are hurting the earth because all of our investment would be worthless when the nature gets its revenge.

[SoeNan89]

If I don't think so, there are still many other projects that are extravagant in the use of electricity when compared to the use of electricity to mine crypto. Because the use of electricity for mining crypto is still quite normal.

 In fact, there are so many businesses that can cause pollution.  Like a stone mill.  The smoke is so intense that they don't realize they are damaging the environment with their work.

[noorman0]

It can really be damaging for the earth if bitcoin will be mined abusively. Fossil fuel is needed in order for the blockchain to keep on running. If we can remember, Elon Musk used it as his reason to remove bitcoin as a mode of payment for Tesla.

I don't know how long some fans have always believed that this guy really cares about the environment just because he has rejected bitcoin. In fact, the electric car company is actually less environmentally friendly than ordinary cars in terms of manufacturing. Especially how he maintains the balance and sustainability of non-renewable resources for the next generation.

I read an article in my local media that:

English:
For ordinary cars, 20 tons (copper) per car, for electric cars it can reach 80 to 100 tons,".
Not to mention the need for copper for charging station components that require cables and others. Thus, it is estimated that the demand for copper will also increase quite significantly

However, global warming can be prevented. But non-renewable resources will always continue to erode. Bitcoin is only a small contributor to the destruction of the earth, industries such as electric cars and other devices will continue to increase over time.

[Moreforless]

The potential of humanity to create more. The earth is not the limit, not the universe, and maybe not the multiverse.

The heat from your computer is not wasted if you need to heat your home.  If you're using electric heat where you live, then your computer's heat isn't a waste.  It's equal cost if you generate the heat with your computer.

If you have other cheaper heating than electric, then the waste is only the difference in cost.

If it's summer and you're using A/C, then it's twice.

Bitcoin generation should end up where it's cheapest.  Maybe that will be in cold climates where there's electric heat, where it would be essentially free.

It's the same situation as gold and gold mining.  The marginal cost of gold mining tends to stay near the price of gold.  Gold mining is a waste, but that waste is far less than the utility of having gold available as a medium of exchange.

I think the case will be the same for Bitcoin.  The utility of the exchanges made possible by Bitcoin will far exceed the cost of electricity used.  Therefore, not having Bitcoin would be the net waste.

As an overall point, I also do not agree with the idea that the very high computational burden of coin generation is in fact a necessity of the current system. As I understand it, currency creation is fundamentally metered by TIME - and if that is the fundamental controlling variable, what is the need for everyone to "roll as many dice as posible" within that given time period? The "chain of proof" for coin ownership and transactions doesn't depend on the method for spawning coins.

Each node's influence on the network is proportional to its CPU power.  The only way to show the network how much CPU power you have is to actually use it.

If there's something else each person has a finite amount of that we could count for one-person-one-vote, I can't think of it.  IP addresses... much easier to get lots of them than CPUs.

I suppose it might be possible to measure CPU power at certain times.  For instance, if the CPU power challenge was only run for an average of 1 minute every 10 minutes.  You could still prove your total power at given times without running it all the time.  I'm not sure how that could be implemented though.  There's no way for a node that wasn't present at the time to know that a past chain was actually generated in a duty cycle with 9 minute breaks, not back to back.

Proof-of-work has the nice property that it can be relayed through untrusted middlemen.  We don't have to worry about a chain of custody of communication.  It doesn't matter who tells you a longest chain, the proof-of-work speaks for itself.

[CryptoStar19]

Gold mining consumes more power than bitcoin mining... the world's banking system consumes way more energy than bitcoin mining... nobody seems to be concerned about the power consumption of gold mining or the world's banking system. This narrative that bitcoin is bad for the environment is just foolish... do we need to provide the energy for bitcoin mining in a more environmentally friendly / sustainable way? Definitely, but to say that bitcoin is bad for the environment completely ignores all the good and freedom it can bring to the world. Is there a cost to everything that is useful? Sure there is. This narrative needs to change from "bitcoin is bad for the environment" to "how do we go about mining bitcoin more sustainably" or "how do we go about using more renewable energy for crypto mining" or "how do go about using more eco-friendly systems than proof of work for cryptocurrency".

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

If it did pose a threat, we should've seen it a long time ago when the prices were still around a dollar per pop but no, I don't think that it is a threat and wherever you read that OP, unsubscribe to it because they are just trying to discredit bitcoin when we should be mad at the energy sector which creates the pollution because they are the ones that consume fossil fuels.

[TangentC]

Signs of the Times , for anyone unfortunate enough to be on the same power grid as Bitcoin Proof of Waste Miners.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-texas-is-becoming-a-mecca-for-bitcoin-miners-2021-05-04

Access to unique power sources and friendly regulations are driving bitcoin mining companies to set up shop in Texas.

https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ercot-conservation-alert-texans-asked-to-reduce-electric-use-on-monday/

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which controls the flow of about 90% of the power in Texas,
is asking residents to conserve power through Friday as temperatures in the state surge.

Bitcoin miners have already removed the excess energy capacity in Texas that could have easily handled the heat wave,
next rolling blackouts thanks to the increased energy waste of bitcoin mining in Texas.  

ERCOT asking people to suffer by not using their Air Conditions while greedy bitcoin miners profit.
 

[androyster]

NOTHING, man does short of a nuclear Apocalypse  will "destroy the earth".  And even then it will come back.  Earth has been here billions of years and it will be here billions of years after mankind exterminates itself.