Posted 11 months ago | by Catoshi Nakamoto
Crypto mining has been getting a lot of negative press over the past few months with but new FUD has entered the mainstream now that institutional players are getting more vocal with their criticisms. You’ve see the headlines and billionaire twitter arguments and they all center around one thing: Proof of Work mining; specifically Bitcoin mining. The concern is mining is using an outsized amount of electricity and contributing to the impending doom of the planet. In this video, we break down the data and take a hard look at the facts of the Bitcoin network and its environmental impact. Stick around to the end of the video to get my take on what the sustainable future of Bitcoin will look like.
Read MoreLet’s get it!
Welcome to BitBoy Crypto. The largest crypto channel in all the interwebs. My name is Ben. Every day I show YOU how to MAKE MONEY in Crypto. If you like money and crypto then make sure to hit that subscribe button. Today, we are discussing the most taboo topic in all of bitcoin right now… mining and the inevitable destruction of earth. Where is captain planet when you need him, amirite?
In the cryptoverse, especially in terms of the environment, you’ll hear the terms Proof of Work, Mining and FUD quite often so before we get too far into things I want to define some terms for those of you who may be new to Crypto. FUD or F.U.D. stands for Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. It’s a catchall phrase used to describe a piece of news or rumor that is being used to dissuade crypto adoption. It comes from crypto haters and old money NPCs who are afraid of the blockchain and losing their grip on centralized monetary power. That’s not to say we don’t take criticism. Crypto junkies are some of the most critically-minded and passionate people you’ll come across. And we’re not even talking about the Bitcoin Maximalists.
We are always looking at data from multiple sources to make sure we understand the complete picture. The next term is Proof of Work which is the type of consensus algorithm used to verify a blockchain. This differs from the other proofing systems, Proof of Stake among others. Proof of Work means that the blockchain is verified among dozens and sometimes hundreds of independent verifiers to ensure that one transaction on the blockchain is correct. Proving consensus is the hallmark of blockchain technology and is part of what makes crypto so special. The processing of verifying is called Mining. Mining bitcoin used to be done on a home computer, that’s what the founder Satoshi Nakamoto started out on but soon more powerful computers, then graphics processing cards and now Application Specific Integrated Circuits or ASICs do most of the verifying. ASICs do a great job verifying and securing the network. But a single ASIC mining computer no bigger than a toaster can consume more power than your microwave, but it is running 24/7 365 days a year. And there lies the rub.
So what are the naysayers wringing their hands over? They are concerned about one point of data, ignoring all others: this statistic from the University of Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance that tracks the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining. That number right there in the middle, 147.41 terawatts of electricity is what all the fuss is about. It sounds like a lot. It IS a lot. Just look at THESE CHARTS. Or THIS GRAPH. LOOK HOW HIGH THE LINES ARE GOING UP. MORE ENERGY THAN ARGENTINA!? WE’RE GOING TO DIE! What’s that? Saturday Night Live host and car salesman Elon Musk turned his back on Bitcoin, even though last month he agreed with Jack Dorsey that it was good for the environment.
Why would Bitcoin do this?
Just looking at all that FUD would make you think that Bitcoin Miners are the arch nemesis of Captain Planet. But let’s take a deep breath and look at the facts. Does Bitcoin mining consume electricity? Of course. One of the ways you measure how advanced a society is, is by how much energy it consumes. It’s tied together. Humanity is great at doing a lot of things, one of them is finding ways to generate electricity. Every year the entire world generates over 25,000 terawatts of electricity and of that huge amount of fast moving electrons Bitcoin mining takes up about less than a half of a percent IF we’re going to use the debatable Cambridge University number of 147 terawatts, for the sake of argument. On top of that Bitcoin mining uses electricity in a very cheap way and is considered the BUYER OF LAST RESORT. Because Bitcoin is decentralized any single mining farm can turn off it’s power if the electrical grid needs it. This means the mining farms are buying power at a very cheap price, and are able to use power that would otherwise be wasted. That’s important to understand because while the world may PRODUCE 25,000 terawatts of electricity, around 30 PERCENT of that is wasted due to the fundamentals of electricity generation. So Bitcoin proof of work mining is not only revolutionizing money and finance, but it’s doing so by using the scraps of electricity the world doesn’t use.
Let’s take a look at how Bitcoin mining electricity consumption compares with other financial sectors…say, gold? Gold mining has been one of the most power intensive industries for many decades, consuming over 157 terawatts a year. And that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to one of the biggest consumers of electricity in the world today. That’s right. Your AIR CONDITIONER. Air Conditioners consume over 10 percent of the electricity generated WORLDWIDE, every year. So if you love your planet. You better learn to SWEAT. But that’s not the whole picture. The real bait and switch with all this FUD is equating energy CONSUMPTION with carbon OUTPUT. They are not the same thing. And that’s where the real FUD comes from. Looking at all numbers from all the sources of carbon emissions. Bitcoin mining contributes a tiny point one three percent of the worlds carbon emissions. Bitcoin Mining isn’t just a small impact on the environment in comparison to other types of technology, it is incentivizing the adoption of green energy solutions and spurring innovation at a rapid pace. It’s doing all of this while upsetting the fiat money printing jamboree that Old Money can’t quit. Not to mention the entire petrochemical output from the militaries you need to back up your worthless currency.
Old Money doesn’t just fear the decentralization. It hates it. And that’s where this is coming from. Banks and Governments that are desperately trying to hold onto their power by manipulating interest rates and inflating worthless currencies are happy to pound their FIST OF FUD on the table to distract people while they rob them of their financial independence. They have been in control for a long, long time and are playing to win, so they are more than happy to let a few out of context data points run wild across the media. Bitcoin and other crypto assets are giving people more control of their money and by extension, more freedom. From the steel mill workers in Pennsylvania looking for a store of value to hedge against inflation, to the young father in the Congo who is afraid to put his money into the town bank run by the corrupt local government, crypto assets are democratizing money and changing the world for the better.
In my opinion, The future of Bitcoin and crypto in general is looking bright. The more adoption, the faster green energy solutions will come on board. It only makes financial sense moving forward and the big players know this. Bitcoin mining is location agnostic, meaning it can happen anywhere there is an internet connection. This allows for any proof of work mining company to set up shop next to any clean source of energy, be it solar, wind, geothermal, hydro or nuclear. They can support the network and mine new blocks in the middle of nowhere, waving back at Captain Planet as he flies overhead smiling down on them.
It’s also possible that Bitcoin moves to proof of stake, like how Ethereum is doing. Proof Of Stake means coin holders, in this case Ethereum owners, would set up a stack of their coins as a VERIFICATION NODE, which would verify the network in exchange for a networking fee but on an as needed basis instead of racing to complete a processor-intensive Work proofing algorithm. This would be a massive and controversial undertaking, but it’s within the realm of possibility. This would immediately dispel any energy argument and depending on how it’s done could mean that staking would be done by anyone who is holding onto their bitcoin long term and want’s to participate in staking which is a great way to grow their stack of Satoshis.
No one back in the 70’s thought that sending 1’s and 0’s over a telephone line would fundamentally change the world but it did and now we have millions of hours of cat videos readily accessible in the palm of your hand. In a similar but more profound way, Bitcoin is doing the same thing. Not giving us more cat videos. It’s fundamentally changing the world so that more people have access to more freedom. The internet was all about freedom of information, Bitcoin and crypto assets like Ethereum are giving everyone more freedom with their money.
Leave a comment below on what you think the energy future of Bitcoin and cryptoassets is going to be. And if you haven’t already, smash that like button while you’re at it. Make sure you come back later this week as we will have a big video on the top 3 altcoins that could benefit from the current Bitcoin narrative that it is bad for the environment.
But that’s all I got. Be blessed. Bitboy out!
Stay Connected With Me