Greenpeace is raising the banner that Bitcoin – as it exists today – is BAD for our planet and communities.

For years Bitcoin’s electricity use was relatively small. As the value of Bitcoin increased and as faster, specialized machines took over the mining process, its electricity consumption has sky-rocketed.

According to researchers at the University of Cambridge, Bitcoin’s electricity usage is comparable to that of many mid-sized countries–like Sweden. In too many cases, that electricity is being generated by burning climate-polluting fossil fuels.

If this trend continues, this big problem for our climate could become a lot worse. As climate scientists have been telling us for years, we need to rapidly phase out the use of fossil fuels, but we are seeing many Bitcoin mining operations do the exact opposite.

Bitcoin’s “Proof of Work” (PoW) protocol was revolutionary in 2009, but it is now having unintended consequences for our climate and our future. Thankfully, Bitcoin’s code can be updated to avoid all the “work” required by PoW by shifting to a “Proof of Stake” (PoS) approach which could use 99% LESS energy. This newer way of ensuring security and transparency is already used by most other cryptocurrencies. Ethereum, another well-established digital currency, is in the process of switching from PoW to PoS. If smaller cryptocurrencies are doing this, Bitcoin could too. The technical challenges for Bitcoin to do the same can be surmounted. The real problem is whether, in a decentralized system, enough people can build the support needed to make it happen.

Source: Greenpeace Website