Bitcoin Could Be as Bad for the Planet as Beef
A look at the relative value of the cryptocurrency’s climate damage puts it in the same league as cattle farming or gasoline burning, according to a new study.
A cow peers through a fence in a field near Ulting, UK, on Tuesday, June 22, 2021.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergBitcoin mining’s climate impact is comparable to farming cattle or burning gasoline when taken as a proportion of market value, according to researchers at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.
Cryptocurrency mining is energy intensive because it requires highly specialized computers — and most of the electricity it consumes is generated by burning planet-warming fossil fuels. The climate-related economic damage caused by mining the popular digital token, Bitcoin, exceeded its market value on 6.4% of the days it traded between 2016 and 2021, the paper published in Scientific Reports on Thursday found.