Will the behavior of cryptocurrency mining destroy the environment? Cryptocurrencies that have been proved by Bitcoin and other PoW require a large amount of energy -exceeding the energy used by the entire country to perform work related to encrypted mining. Let's take a look at the adverse effects of cryptocurrency mining on the environment.

What is cryptocurrency mining and how does it work?

Simply put, encrypted mining is the process of Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) to generate new coins and verify new transactions.

Under the proof of work system, huge decentralized computer networks around the world verify safe blockchain by performing calculations.

Once they solve the complex formula to verify the accuracy of the blockchain, the computer on the network will receive a new coin reward for contributing their processing capabilities.

Under the equity certificate system, the miners mortgage their cryptocurrencies to verify new transactions and update the blockchain -and therefore get rewards.

When the user creates nodes, the algorithm selects a node to check or add the block to the chain. Once other nodes verify everything that looks correct, the node will get more coin rewards.

As more and more mining machines enter the competition, the difficulty of calculating the problem is getting greater, and the electricity required to win is getting bigger.

Over time, the electricity used by miners in these competitions is exponentially increased.

Why cryptocurrency mining requires energy

The energy intensity of encryption mining is a characteristic, not an error. Bitcoin mining is to verify the automation process of Bitcoin transactions without a trusted third -party intervention such as banks.

The design method of the transaction verification process uses a lot of energy -the network depends on the computing power of thousands of mining machines. This dependence maintains the security of cryptocurrency blockchain that uses the proof of work to prove consensus.

How does cryptocurrency affect the environment?

To understand the impact of cryptocurrencies on the environment, we must first understand how new currencies in cryptocurrencies are generated. Because cryptocurrencies are not supervised by central institutions, the blockchain relies on users to verify transactions and use new information blocks to update the blockchain. In order to prevent bad actors from trying to manipulate these new information, the verification of these blockchain needs to be very difficult and costly. Therefore, most cryptocurrencies have implemented a proof of work certificate.

The proof of work is a consensus mechanism that allows users to verify cryptocurrency transactions by solving complex mathematical problems. The first person to solve the problem to verify the transaction and obtain a fixed number of cryptocurrencies. Then the cycle starts again. It is the most extensive consensus mechanism.

When someone "excavates" cryptocurrencies, they actually run the procedure of trying to crack the problem on their computers. The greater the power behind your computer, the greater the chance of winning the blockchain update and getting returns. As a result, miners were inspired to provide more motivation for their mining business to defeat their competitors.

Special integrated circuit (ASIC) miners are a very powerful computer. The only purpose of its design is to mine a specific cryptocurrency algorithm, which aims to further optimize computing power to solve the problem of these proof of work. Although ASIC mining machines can be used to tap any cryptocurrency, because competition is so fierce, they are now essential to mining Bitcoin.

"Whenever more people mine more Bitcoin, the competition will intensify," said Junior Theomou, the founder of Miners Defi. This is a Bitcoin mining company based on hydropower. "The more machines on the market, the more difficult it is to minimize the Bitcoin. So the competition is ongoing now, and more and more machines are competing with each other."

The University of Cambridge estimates that Bitcoin only generates 132.48 Taiwa time (TWH) each year, which is easy to exceed Norway's annual energy usage of 123 TWH in 2020. The amount of carbon dioxide emitted by this energy use will vary according to the use of energy. Created. However, in 2020, 35.4% of Bitcoin mining in the United States, the United States -China in 2021, occurred in the United States -0.85 pounds of carbon dioxide per kilowatt -hour. This has led to nearly 40 billion pounds of carbon dioxide in the United States Bitcoin mining alone.

In addition, every four years, the number of Bitcoin used to solve problems and update blockchain will be reduced by half. The last halve occurred in 2020, when the reward was reduced from 12.5 coins to 6.25. After halving each time, the carbon emissions required to create a coin flipped overnight.

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Why is cryptocurrency harmful to the environment?

The main impact of cryptocurrencies on the environment comes from energy -intensive activities used in each transaction and "mining" new coins. Different cryptocurrencies need different energy, some of which (as we will see in the following) require little energy, while others, such as the most popular -Bitcoin -Very Energy.

It is estimated that each Bitcoin transaction uses about 2100 kWh (KWH), which is about 75 days of consumption of an ordinary American family. When this energy is provided by non -renewable energy, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin generate a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Bitcoin's annual carbon footprint is equivalent to release 97.2 trillion tons of carbon dioxide -roughly equivalent to the annual discharge of Argentina nationwide.

What is the impact of cryptocurrency mining on the environment?

The main impact of cryptocurrencies on the environment comes from the energy -intensive activity of each transaction and use workload to excavate new coins.

The higher processing capacity increases the possibility of guessing the POW solution, which inspires miners to either form a mining pool or create a mining facility. In a mining pool, a group of miners have their own power -intensive equipment, and at the same time try to solve this problem, and then share profits based on the "effort" or computing power contributed by each miner.

On the other hand, the mine is a data center, consisting of hundreds of ASIC servers, and these servers are running uninterruptedly and constantly mining Bitcoin. Although integrating these servers to one place can reduce energy consumption and special ASIC hardware aims to use energy more effectively, these mines still need a lot of electricity to power them.

Bitcoin mining uses a total of 91 TWH electricity each year, accounting for about 0.5%of the world's electricity consumption, more than the electricity consumed by the entire Finland every year, and seven times that of Google consumed by electricity each year.

How much affects cryptocurrencies on the environment?

This is a very delicate and political topic. Since 2011, I have been in this field, and I can see both parties in the debate. I believe I can refine its reality. The work certificate itself is low, because it uses a lot of electricity to solve mathematical problems to win rewards. On the surface, this is not environmentally friendly.

However, the internal interest of crypto miners is to improve power efficiency as much as possible, because energy consumption is their main expenditure after fast computer and processors (also known as mining equipment). Miners are looking for the cheapest places in the world to connect their drills to the grid. They pursue renewable energy -solar energy, wind energy, and hydropower -and use discharge from natural gas, these discharge can be lost or burned as waste.

Although more and more sources are seeking clean energy, not all encrypted miners are doing this. There is no doubt that the workload proves is an environmental cost, but it is not disastrous as some people say. Of course, an intangible impact is the combination of energy consumption and environmental impact with the benefits created by cryptocurrencies through huge new industries. This technology creates a value Internet that we all use, so it also brings cost -effectiveness.

How to reduce the impact of Bitcoin mining on the environment?

Not all Bitcoin miners have the same environmental impact. Two factors can contribute to more environmentally friendly cryptocurrency mining: renewable energy and the climate where they are located.

Bitcoin farms, located in countries that are seriously dependent on fossil fuels, have a greater impact on the environment than those in countries that use hydropower, wind, solar energy, or nuclear energy countries.

Until recently, a large part of Bitcoin farms are located in areas that are seriously relying on coal in China. This is a relatively cheap energy source that can improve profitability, but it will also increase carbon dioxide emissions. In 2021, the Chinese government severely cracked down on Bitcoin mining, causing a large number of Bitcoin miners to influx into other cheap places in other energy sources.

For example, because of the low energy costs generated by fossil fuel, Kazakhstan has become a hot area for Bitcoin mining. However, recently, Kazakhstan's Internet closure and protests have threatened the stability of the mining industry in the region. On the other hand, farms located in places using green energy, such as the Narvia Peninsula, which uses hydropower, has greatly reduced carbon footprints and even neutral. However, restrictions on renewable energy usability may be affected by seasonal changes or production restrictions, which may prevent miners from abandoning more reliable energy -based energy -based energy.

Similarly, the climate around these data centers will affect the carbon footprint of Bitcoin mining, because those data centers in the cold environment rely less to rely on the artificial cooling system to prevent the ASIC server from overheating, thereby reducing total energy consumption.

It is estimated that Bitcoin mining generates 22 to 22.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, which is equivalent to emissions from Jordan and Sri Lanka, accounting for about 1%of global electricity consumption. A study published in 2021 even showed that BTC emissions alone pushed global warming by 2 degrees Celsius.

Fortunately, there are many better alternatives in the world's most famous cryptocurrencies. On average, the electricity consumption of other cryptocurrencies is 99%less than Bitcoin.

Social cost of cryptocurrency mining

In addition to the 1.5 -degree level that causes environmental deterioration and global warming to danger, cryptocurrencies have also led to other social side effects.

As we all know, cryptocurrency mining will threaten fragile energy networks in countries where infrastructure cannot handle power consumption activities. Due to Bitcoin mining activities, several cities in Iran, Kazakhstan, China, and Cosovo faced power outages -leading to thousands of people's power off heat, sometimes a few days.

Cryptocurrencies are rapidly becoming a severe greenhouse gas emissions, causing air and water pollution and affecting global carbon emissions. However, the workload proves cryptocurrency mining -the mining and transaction verification method used by Bitcoin, Bitcoin is the dominant cryptocurrency in the world. Supercomputers create more currencies through supercomputers to solve any and highly complex mathematical issues. ——It is highly energy -dense, and a large amount of computing power is required, which will cause the consequences of harsh environment.

The above content introduces that cryptocurrency mining will have a bad impact on the environment. Cryptocurrency mining uses the proof of work. If it is transformed like Ethereum as a equity certificate, then over time, cryptocurrency mining may have a significant decrease in the impact of climate change. The upgrade to Ethereum 2.0 (ETH2) based on equity certification model confirms this.

Is cryptocurrency mining bad for the environment? The impacts of mining