Will Bitcoin Mining Cause Global Warming?

[aloke9001]

On 13 May 2021, Tesla founder Elon Musk made waves when he announced his company would no longer accept bitcoin as car payments.

Bitcoin plunged as much as 17% on the news…

This was a stunning about-face for Musk.

Just two months earlier, he bragged Tesla would accept bitcoin as payment. And in February, Tesla invested $1.5 billion of its corporate treasury in bitcoin.

So why did Musk change his tune?

He cited environmental concerns over bitcoin mining. Here’s what he tweeted last Thursday…

Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.

Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment.

Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction.

If you’ve also come to believe that bitcoin mining ruins the environment, I can’t blame you. The mainstream press has spread this misleading narrative for months now.

They say bitcoin mining contributes to global warming… Or warn it’ll overwhelm the U.S. electrical grid… Or claim it uses more energy than Sweden.

Friends, let me warn you. As bitcoin adoptions soars, these angry voices that have gotten bitcoin wrong from day one will get louder and louder.

So let me set the record straight…

Bitcoin is More Eco-Friendly Than Gold and Banking

I had my team dig into bitcoin’s energy usage. And what they found might surprise you.

According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, bitcoin mining currently consumes around 110 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year… or about 0.55% of global electricity production.

It’s roughly equivalent to the annual energy use of a small country like Sweden. But these numbers are never put in context.

Let me explain…

Since bitcoin is a store of value and independent monetary network… you can compare its energy usage to that of the banking and gold mining industries.

Bitcoin mining uses 110 TWh of energy and produces 70 metric tons (Mt) of CO2 annually. (CO2, or carbon dioxide, is a greenhouse gas.)

By comparison, the banking system uses an estimated 700 TWh of energy and produces 400 metric tons (Mts) of CO2 every year. And the gold industry uses 265 TWh of energy and produces 145 Mts of CO2.

So banking and gold mining uses 536% and 141% more energy, respectively, than bitcoin mining… And they produce 471% and 107% more greenhouse gases, respectively.

But you don’t see the press criticizing banks for the number of buildings they own… or computers they run… or data centers they operate. And they’re not out there calling for lawmakers to close gold mines.

So if bitcoin mining is hurting the environment like critics claim… why aren’t we seeing the same anger directed at the traditional banking system?

It’s an important question you must ask yourself. Who benefits from dinging bitcoin’s price over the short term?

I’ll tell you who… The legion of bankers who are now plowing their clients’ capital into bitcoin.

This reminds me exactly of what I saw in September 2017 when JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon called bitcoin “a fraud.”

At the time, bitcoin dropped 21%. I was left scratching my head wondering why on earth the world’s most powerful banker would bother criticizing what was then a relatively small asset?

I didn’t have to wait long for the answer.

According to the public trading logs of banker Nordnet, we discovered JPMorgan traders in London were busy buying bitcoin all the while Dimon was publicly trashing it.

I wouldn’t be shocked if we find out Wall Street firms (and maybe even Elon Musk himself) have been heavily buying through this trumped-up environmental story.

Here’s The Real Story on Bitcoin Energy Use

Here’s what’s really happening with bitcoin’s energy use…

Unlike Wall Street and gold miners, bitcoin miners are taking steps to actually reduce their reliance on fossil fuels.

According to a 2020 study from the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, about 76% of crypto miners use a mix of renewable and traditional energy sources to power their operations…

The same study also found that about 39% of crypto mining’s total energy consumption comes from renewable sources.

In addition to current “green” operations, several large miners are in the process of moving more of their mining to renewable sources.

For example…

Gryphon Digital Mining has raised $14 million to build a renewable U.S. mining operation.

DMG Blockchain and Argo Blockchain have partnered to develop the first-ever bitcoin mining pool run exclusively on renewable energy.

Genesis Mining has established an operation in Iceland that’s powered by geothermal energy.

Bitfarms has partnered with Canadian utility Hydro-Quebec to use hydropower for its mining operations.

And billionaire investor Peter Thiel contributed $50 million to launch a wind-powered bitcoin mining operation in Texas.

If these projects are any indication, bitcoin miners are taking environmental sustainability very seriously. 

The Mainstream Freaking Out = Time To Buy More

Friends, we’ve seen this movie before…

In September 2017, on the same day as Dimon’s comments and bitcoin’s 21% crash, the Chinese government said it would ban the crypto…

And in November 2017, bitcoin plunged 23% after the bitcoin hash rate dropped more than one-third in a 24-hour period.

Remember, this is just the trading madness that has always surrounded bitcoin. This asset will go up 30–40% on no news… and drop 30–40% on no news, too. You’ll also see people panic on price drops, just like they are now.

The good news is bitcoin miners are taking concrete steps to reduce their carbon footprint. Not because they love the environment… but because they’re finding renewable energy can be far cheaper than nonrenewables.

Friends, I would rather put my faith in well-aligned economic incentives like that than in the virtue signaling platitudes of Musk and the traditional banking system.

You must view volatility as the price of admission when it comes to making life-changing gains from crypto.

Treat this pullback for what it is…. An excellent buying opportunity. That’s because the long-term trend of mass adoption is still intact. So keep that in mind.

Financial powerhouses like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan all have plans to offer their customers access to this asset class.

If they thought environmental concerns would derail bitcoin adoption… would they invest billions into building out these platforms for their customers? Clearly not.

As I’ve said before, watch what Wall Street does… Not what it says.

The media loves to focus on negative narratives about bitcoin. First it was “bitcoin is for criminals.” Now, it’s “bitcoin is bad for the environment.”

Each time, bitcoin has come back stronger than ever.

This too shall pass…

Let the Game Come to You!

For More Information visit:https://[Suspicious link removed]/3hySr15

[Charles-Tim]

So why did Musk change his tune?

He wanted to manipulate the market and nothing more.

He cited environmental concerns over bitcoin mining. Here’s what he tweeted last Thursday…

Not last Thursday, it's been long, over a month or two ago.

Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin. We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel.

Manipulating the market, bitcoin at the time uses 75% green energy.

Tesla will not be selling any Bitcoin and we intend to use it for transactions as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy. We are also looking at other cryptocurrencies that use <1% of Bitcoin’s energy/transaction.

Doge is his favorite, trying to make people buy doge because doge fall into that category of his choice.

If you’ve also come to believe that bitcoin mining ruins the environment, I can’t blame you. The mainstream press has spread this misleading narrative for months now.

I believe Bitcoin can not contribute 1% to global warming. Afforestation, industrial gasses, automobiles and many like that are contributing to global warming. 75% Bitcoin mining electricity usage is from Green energy.

<...>

You are right, they are critics. Also Elon Musk is only manipulating the market for doge and other favorite coins.

[Lorence.xD]

I don't think so, global warming has been a problem for a really long time, it's just that bitcoin was able to have a really cool feat of large consumption of electricity and FUD spreaders just find that it fits their agenda that bitcoin could be a good scapegoat.

[Karish2return]

Mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may take off unfavorable impacts on the environment, a few fear. Tesla CEO Elon Musk said, "We are concerned approximately quickly expanding utilize of fossil fills for Bitcoin mining and exchanges, particularly coal, which has the most noticeably awful emanations of any fuel."

[larus]

Are you sure that at least anything will cause it? It may be just increased solar activity, btw. Anyway, btc mining consume too low amount of power for it

[KaliLinux]

I don't think so, global warming has been a problem for a really long time, it's just that bitcoin was able to have a really cool feat of large consumption of electricity and FUD spreaders just find that it fits their agenda that bitcoin could be a good scapegoat.

I agree with you that Global warming has been an issue since way back but we must understand that Bitcoin and even the Energy consumption is just a FUD to always bring the price down or to Hurt Bitcoin by people that don't want to see Bitcoin prosper because there have been reports showing that other sectors of the economy like Banking, even Christmas Lights consume more energy than Bitcoin mining so Bitcoin is not the problem of global warming.  

[avikz]

Bitcoin is More Eco-Friendly Than Gold and Banking

That's a perfect statement! If we compare the energy usage of only the gold businesses worldwide, bitcoin's energy usage will look minuscule. The banking sector is even bigger producer of carbon given it's size. So whoever thinks that bitcoin is bad just because it requires energy, that's utter stupidity! Just as Elon Musk did! His company could have made a very nice profit, but due to his stupidity, they are now facing loss on papers. But we need to learn to ignore such stupid people from our life for our own good!

[cr1776]

I don't think so, global warming has been a problem for a really long time, it's just that bitcoin was able to have a really cool feat of large consumption of electricity and FUD spreaders just find that it fits their agenda that bitcoin could be a good scapegoat.

Climate change has only been happening for about 4.5 billion years on earth.  50 years ago the concern was global cooling, 20 years ago global warming, now generic climate change in order to make any proposition that could be falsified. If you want control, you'd sow fear.

[perryxi2]

i have heard a lot about the use of fuel to mine BTC and its consequences on the environment a lot of places they don't support BTC mining, and mostly for BTC mining miners made the atmosphere where mining points should be bad.

[ranochigo]

Manipulating the market, bitcoin at the time uses 75% green energy.

No concrete data, AFAIK. 75% sounds quite unrealistic.

Bitcoin contributes to global warming, simple as that. Manufacturing ASIC requires huge amount of energy, from mining the silicon, producing the wafer, etc. The entire process consumes a significant amount of energy as well. Sure, okay you compare Bitcoin to banking systems, different payment systems. That is hardly a fair comparison, the userbase of those are far greater than Bitcoin's with the transactions arguably far more useful, for their volume and utility. Use of Bitcoin in the real world remains fairly scarce as of now, and that isn't looking to be changed anytime soon.

It's quite stupid to assert that Bitcoin doesn't contribute to global warming. Fact is, as much as you like to deny it, it does. Simple as that, your car, AC all contributes to global warming by producing demand for electricity and/or production of the said products. Do you think it'll be more reasonable to compare something that is far more useful to Bitcoin?

Obviously, when Bitcoin becomes more useful than it is now, people would stop saying that it is a waste of electricity. Just like how people don't refer to those industries which produces more pollutant than Bitcoin as frivolous and wasteful use of electricity. They're mostly attacked by hardcore environmentalist rather than the general public which are often far more rational.

[jesselui]

No. Even gold mining is simply more dangerous than bitcoin mining. America brought this up to deal a blow to crypto. Unfortunately, Elon Musk was instrumental in this.

[Leviathan.007]

People who care about the power consummation of bitcoin and the global warning of earth should know that bitcoin is already consuming much power than the old and fiat currency while it will also provide a transparent network  while the old system won't. Also, the world is progressing everyday and miners should replace their old mining devices that are consuming fossil fuels and dirty power with solar power with way they can also save some money by using the green energy. I believe the energy consummation is already lower than fiat and will become even greener after some time.

[Charles-Tim]

No concrete data, AFAIK. 75% sounds quite unrealistic.

Which also means no concrete evidence that Bitcoin miners are using mostly fossil fuels and other power generation means that can result to releasing of green house gases into the environment, what I knew recently is that China is already moving towards the use of wind, nuclear, solar and properly constructed hydrogen electric power plants. I am not certain about how the power generation is for now as China banned Bitcoin mining, but some studies reviewed in 2019 and earliest 2020 how miners are mostly making use of renewable energy for mining which I believe you are quite aware of that.

Bitcoin contributes to global warming, simple as that.

Who says Bitcoin does not contribute to global warming, human activities generally contribute to global warming, but people will only exaggerate this while there are many companies and other human activities that contributes to global warming, and deforestation also resulting to global warming. Did you know how many gases the automobiles, non Bitcoin mining industries and other companies are releasing to the atmosphere alone which are potent green house cases that can lead to global warming? If miners are able to mine and pay electricity bill, I think it is also important as a means to generate more energy while government should focus on ways to generate green energy, green energy can be used to mine Bitcoin.

[jossiel]

i have heard a lot about the use of fuel to mine BTC and its consequences on the environment a lot of places they don't support BTC mining, and mostly for BTC mining miners made the atmosphere where mining points should be bad.

Where have you heard that some farms have been using fuel to mine bitcoin? majority of them uses electricity to mine bitcoin.

But if there are some places, probably a few or should be a rare case that they use fuel to generate electricity. That place must have a cheap fuel then.

If that's the case that's not friendly for the sake of Elon, he should also address those that have been using renewable energy ever since.

[Asuspawer09]

I don't have a lot of knowledge when it comes to global warming and how does it work or how much heat is needed in order to make it even worse over time.

But seeing how things work, I already tried mining Ethreum in the past years and I know how GPU could heat up or some other mining hardware, that hardware could easily blow up some hot air.

Still, I don't think it is going to cause global warming even though it is already a problem in the past years, probably it might contribute because there are so many mining farms around the world but there are even more things that generate more greenhouse gases like for example burning fossil fuels which is probably the main cause of global warming.

[Hippocrypto]

Global warming wouldn't be an issue if Bitcoin mining used green energy when doing the operation. Equipments needs electricity to run the rigs, but if you're not using the main source of energy that will help eliminate global warming through green energy like solar panels. Most power generation usually used burning coals which is harmful to environment and eventually produced much more heat.

[ranochigo]

Which also means no concrete evidence that Bitcoin miners are using mostly fossil fuels and other power generation means that can result to releasing of green house gases into the environment, what I knew recently is that China is already moving towards the use of wind, nuclear, solar and properly constructed hydrogen electric power plants.

Then isn't it a bit strange to be giving a random figure without any concrete data? I think the Bitcoin mining council said they're using 56%, not a high number considering they're probably one of the few in the spotlight.

Climate change or environmental damage isn't only caused by the electrical usage of Bitcoin. Ewaste and the production of the ASICs contribute immensely as well. Actually, not all renewable generation are particularly carbon neutral at all. It's quite a common fallacy to assume that just because you're using renewable energy, you're being green.

That is rarely the case. Building the facilities and using it often comes in a fairly huge expense of the environment.

Who says Bitcoin does not contribute to global warming, human activities generally contribute to global warming, but people will only exaggerate this while there are many companies and other human activities that contributes to global warming, and deforestation also resulting to global warming. Did you know how many gases the automobiles, non Bitcoin mining industries and other companies are releasing to the atmosphere alone which are potent green house cases that can lead to global warming? If miners are able to mine and pay electricity bill, I think it is also important as a means to generate more energy while government should focus on ways to generate green energy, green energy can be used to mine Bitcoin.

Unfortunately, most of the arguments appears to be centered on exactly that. I think I addressed the point about the lack of utility of Bitcoin and why it isn't a fair point to be comparing it to driving your cars. If you consider the issue of environmental degradation to be only about the direct electrical consumption, you're barking up the wrong tree. If the government really cared about the environment, we wouldn't be facing the whole issue of climate change today. Historically, government hasn't been as concerned with the environment as long as there is economic growth. Miners didn't care whether they're using 'green' energy or not as long as they're generating the most profits.

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

I heard this opinion in some news like this https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2021/03/09/bill-gates-bitcoin-crypto-climate-change/ bill gates said bitcoin because its using electricity per transaction and its non stop everywhere in the world . honestly crypto miner are minority in this world. and.  what if become majority in this world is mining ? that would be possible what he siad.  I think that statement is true but there must be many ways to prevent global warming.

[pooya87]

If we draw a Venn diagram of all the people who are willing to buy Tesla cars (that cause more global warming than anything else to be charged), and all the people who own bitcoin and all the people who are willing to spend a large amount of bitcoin we can see that the intersection of the 3 circles is a handful of people who may not even bother buying such an expensive car.
This has to tell us a lot about one of the main reasons why Tesla stopped accepting bitcoin payments!

Also when you look at Musk's tweets and how he was desperately investing in Doge coin and were trying to pump and dump it you get the other main reason why Tesla stopped accepting bitcoin payments!

[Fundamentals Of]

Cause global warming? Of course, not. Global warming is already here. It was here way before Bitcoin came out. How could Bitcoin cause something which was already in existence before it was even conceived?

Global warming might be here to stay and Bitcoin is contributing to its continuous presence just like the rest of human activities. But Bitcoin is not a big player. Its mining activities are powered at least 56% by renewable sources, so there are a lot more damaging human activities than Bitcoin mining. One of which is the use of fiat and the existence of banks.