NFT minting

What Is the Environmental Cost of NFT Minting?

By Allen Taylor | Cryptocracy | 19 Feb 2022


Bitcoin difficulty has reached an all-time high as the hash rate is up 45 percent in six months.

XRP whales accumulate more than $700 million in the second biggest accumulation spree in history.

Minting a new NFT can cost the planet up to 1.38 trees in carbon dioxide. Every bid on an NFT, every sale of an NFT, and every NFT transfer carries a cost to the environment. Thus far, the CryptoKitties collection has done the most damage to the environment. To calculate the environmental cost of your NFTs, check out the NFT Club.

NFT minting

The U.S. Fed is preparing to raise interest rates, perhaps multiple times this year. Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead says that could be “great” for bitcoin. And some people are saying bitcoin will make a good hedge against inflation, which is the highest it’s been in 40 years.

Nexo to stop paying interest on new deposits from U.S. customers.

Binance has joined the Russian Banking Union and will head its new crypto department. Meanwhile, Binance Labs has invested in Web3 privacy protocol Manta.

USDC hit an all-time high in smart contract supply.

Crypto products are less regulated in the UK than in the U.S.

Dogecoin accounts for 25.6 percent of Robinhood’s Q2 revenue.

The Financial Stability Board says cryptocurrencies could trigger a global financial crisis.

OpenSea is delisting inactive Ethereum NFTs with a smart contract upgrade.

Cred went bankrupt in November 2020 and is now being accused of a fraudulent bitcoin transfer to a whale.

Colorado will allow taxpayers to pay by crypto this year.

Algorand wants to attract developers to make the blockchain Ethereum-compatible. To do so, they’ve rolled out a $20 million incentive program.

What is the Big Short DAO and why did it bet against the crypto market? Nevermind that, why did it win?

Beware of PayPal’s new crypto fees.

Are NFTs the cause of Ethereum’s falling gas prices? On another note, Ethereum markets are maturing and giving rise to crypto derivatives.

New rules prevent Fed officials from trading crypto.

Crypto crimes are too big for the U.S. government to ignore.

Sling TV now accepts cryptocurrencies for monthly payments.

The Jamaican Central Bank has renamed its digital currency. More than a few Jamaicans aren’t too happy about it.

The 7 most important crypto influencers to follow in 2022.

Ukraine trades more crypto than fiat. The country recently passed a new virtual assets law.

The Cardano Foundation has doubled its reward for hackers who uncover bugs on the Cardano blockchain.

Cryptocracy is a decentralized newsletter published 4 times a week. I curate the latest news and crypto analysis from some of the brightest minds in crypto, and sometimes offer a little insightful and snarky commentary. Always fresh, always interesting, and always crypto.

First published at Cryptocracy.

Image credit: NFT Club

Resources

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  32. https://cryptocracy.substack.com/p/the-environmental-cost-of-nft-minting

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Allen Taylor
Allen Taylor Verified Member

Writer, editor, publisher. Content strategist for fintech, blockchain, and crypto firms.


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