Recently, cryptocurrency mining has become a global topic.
The use of cryptocurrencies has been on the rise in recent years, with more than 1000 different types of cryptocurrencies available on the market today. The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies combined now exceeds $200 billion, with Bitcoin accounting for more than 50% of that total.
Bitcoin has been criticized for its use in illegal transactions, high electricity consumption, price fluctuations, theft on exchanges, as well as its impact on the environment due to high energy consumption due to mining operations. Mining also requires expensive hardware, making it difficult for people in resource-constrained developing countries to participate in the process of generating bitcoins and receiving the rewards associated with them.
The problem with this system is that it requires a lot of electricity, which leads to high levels of pollution. In fact, according to reports in 2014, Bitcoin mining was estimated to consume around 2 gigawatts (GW) or 2% of global electricity consumption at the time, however, many countries have been moving away from coal-fired power plants in the past few years. and investment in renewable energy sources. These countries are trying to fight pollution caused by coal-fired power plants.
Unlike cryptocurrencies, fiat money is much worse. When a nation's currency declines in value relative to the world in which it competes, its exports become uncompetitive. Imports from other nations come into his home territory like robbers breaking into an unprotected house.
Fiat money also gives governments unilateral power over people who borrow at a completely unnecessary rate for consumption. Whenever fiat money produces an unexpected amount of goods, exports do well and imports do poorly at home during what economists call a "boom-bust cycle."
Paper notes and coins cause tons of pollution every year due to the use of trees in production. This fiat money uses properties such as acidity, color and texture that contaminate the environment.
So is bitcoin polluting the environment? It depends what you compare it to.
