The prospects that are offered by cryptocurrencies are revolutionary. One thing seems to be sure that they are here to stay for the long run. But despite all the benefits they provide, there are some major issues associated with them, and one of them is hurting our Earth.
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency present in the world right now. It is currently providing the world with a global framework of operation. But behind this seemingly perfect global blockchain network of bitcoin lies the energy consumption of large magnitudes.
Miners involved in the bitcoin network use a large amount of electricity to run their bitcoin software. Bitcoin network has come quite close to the country of Bangladesh in terms of its electricity consumption. This comes off as a bad news for our planet Earth as well. A large chunk of electricity is produced across the globe using coal. The smoke emissions of these coal-based power plants are discarded into the air hence disrupting the environmental ecosystem. This contributes to the issue of global warming and climate change that is threatening the existence of human beings in the long run.
Bitcoin network employs Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm at its core. PoW requires the miners to solve complex cryptographic puzzles so that rewards could be given to the miners who solve them before anybody else. It is the mining needed at the core of the network that generates this need for using more computational power, more energy, and more electricity. Ethereum, which is a well-renowned cryptocurrency platform in this space, is also employing PoW at its core right now.
Although the decentralized nature of bitcoin attracts users from across the globe because there is no central party in control, this drawback of consuming a lot of electric power is hurting our Earth. This issue is also being ignored by many people in the crypto world that are blinded by the glitters of it. If this space is to grow and mature, this issue needs to be solved as soon as possible so that people are more open to accepting such technological innovations.
In order to tackle this issue, new mining algorithms are being proposed by blockchain proponents. One of these algorithms is Proof-of-Stake (PoS). It does not require the miners to solve complex cryptographic puzzles and hence, no need for heavy duty computational power. The need of the hour is to employ an algorithm that provides enough incentives for the nodes to stay in the network, is fair, and is not harmful to our ecosystem in any way.
It is a fact that bitcoin provides plenty of benefits alongside the drawbacks associated with it, but before moving on with this asset and the expansion of its network, something needs to be done regarding the effects that it is having on our Earth.
