The evidence is compelling: Cryptocurrency has a crisis on its hands and it is not increased global regulation.
Launched in 2009, Bitcoin has quickly become the fastest-growing currency in recorded history.
Bitcoin miners, mostly ordinary people with home computers, have bolstered its surge across the globe — along with massive energy consumption to do the actual mining.
Fortune reports that Bitcoin mining now “guzzles more electricity than all electric cars in the world.”
To put it in perspective, independent researchers have estimated that Bitcoin miners in June 2017 were generating 500 megawatts worth of cryptographic hashes — the equivalent to supplying roughly 325,000 homes with energy.
Estimates have suggested that a single BTC transaction could power between 1.57 and 9 American households for an entire day.
Bitcoin, unlike Ethereum, has no plans to replace the way it verifies transactions, a complex computational system referred to as proof-of-work, and newer, faster networks are only just starting up.
The energy crisis created coin mining must be recognized, addressed, and resolved in order to facilitate mainstream acceptance and, ultimately, the stabilization of its long-term implementation.
In an effort to reduce cryptocurrency’s carbon footprint while leaving its future bright, entrepreneurs across the globe are leading initiatives to revamp the way mining productions operate.
Some are focusing on minimizing their own costs by settling in right next to renewable energy sources. The Austrian Alps are now home to the start-up HydroMiner, which uses cheap hydroelectric power without contributing to climate change.
Power flow
Others are taking more of a crowdsourcing approach.
A pool of members of the Bitcoin fan club NastyFans contributes to the efforts of a sustainable operation in Arizona called NastyMining. Small-scale miners use a combination of solar and wind energy to minimize impact and maximize profits.
Along those same lines is Genesis Mining, which uses Iceland’s geothermal power for its “cloud mining” operation.
Geographically limited options can realistically only sustain an equally limited portion of total production, regardless of efficiency.
While solar energy initiatives take off in order to better accommodate demand, some take to thinking out-of-the-box to not only address the issue but bolster renewable energy as a whole.
TenneT, a major power transmitter in Netherlands and Germany, is partnering with Sonnen, a battery supplier, to develop IBM’s blockchain software to help manage the flow of power – Europe’s first blockchain-controlled power stabilization project.
The energy crisis has been recognized and addressed; it is only a matter of time now until it is resolved.
Entrepreneurs and experts around the world are generating more than just short term alternative energy solutions. They are spearheading the renewable groundwork for change in markets that know how to embrace it.
