![]() Not that it should: Although proof-of-work mining is energy intensive, Bitcoin could counterintuitively help fund the build-out of net-zero or renewables infrastructure. It's unlikely Bitcoin will change its code anytime soon. This movement was taken as a serious affront by many in the Bitcoin community, which sees proof-of-work mining as a cornerstone of Bitcoin's security, decentralization and market neutrality. EWG plans to spend a further $1 million on propaganda meant to inspire or force the hand of the Bitcoin community to reduce the network's energy consumption.ĮWG's "Change the Code, Not the Climate" initiative launched earlier this year with backing from Greenpeace USA, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and other small environmental organizations. This sentiment was repeated by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which released a statement saying Bitcoin stands as the "lone cryptocurrency climate polluter" following the Merge. Even today Bitcoin is responsible for as much electricity consumption as Sweden," De Vries told The Guardian. ![]() It remains the largest polluter in the crypto space. Now that Ethereum has pulled off the first part of its multi-stage upgrade, there's increasing pressure on the proof-of-work Bitcoin to decarbonize. In fact, Chandler Guo, the primer backer of the ETHW fork, predicted last week 90% of PoW miners of these Ethereum alternatives will likely go “bankrupt,” on CoinDesk TV’s “ First Mover” show. It’s likely that after this weekend’s crypto market rout even more machines were turned off. ![]() See also: Ethereum Proof-of-Work Fork Stumbles as Justin Sun's Poloniex Supports Rival ForkĮthan Vera, chief operations officer of mining services firm Luxor Technologies, tweeted last week that “20%-30% of ETH miners have found a temporary new home amongst other blockchains, the rest are shut down.” This is a figure that could go in either direction, as the market finds price stability after the Merge. But judging by the figures shortly after the Merge, it seems these chains – including Ethereum Classic, Ravencoin and the newly forked Ethereum Proof-of-Work – will not be profitable enough to continue paying for their record high security/energy bills. Several blockchains saw their contributed hash power (and thus energy consumption) increase in the lead-up to the Merge, and vast bumps in that direction after the event. Ethereum mining used approximately 72 terawatt-hours per year, about as much as the country of Austria, according to Digiconomist, a typically critical economics blog run by Alex de Vries. It would be incorrect to say the Merge itself would reduce “worldwide electricity consumption” by that total amount, seeing as many mining machines that once supplied hash power to Ethereum were immediately pointed to alternative PoW blockchains.Įthereum may be vastly more energy-efficient than it was just a week ago, but the question now becomes whether its PoW-based competitors will grow as large. ĭrake estimated that Ethereum’s total energy consumption before the Merge was around 0.34% of the world’s total. You can subscribe to get the full newsletter here. This article is excerpted from The Node, CoinDesk's daily roundup of the most pivotal stories in blockchain and crypto news. Proof-of-stake, Ethereum’s new algorithm for processing transactions, would use approximately 99% less power than the proof-of-work (PoW) system Ethereum used to run. congressmen, technologists and Ethereum’s community, who are right to celebrate the network’s vastly smaller carbon footprint. This talking point, originally discussed by Ethereum researcher Justin Drake, was picked up by U.S. Last week, hot off the heels of the Merge, a complicated plan to swap Ethereum’s infrastructure without interrupting the multibillion-dollar cryptocurrency network, Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin reshared data suggesting “worldwide electricity consumption” could be reduced by 0.2% as a result.
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