Will owning Bitcoin become a status symbol – or a blood-red letter to a new generation of climate-oriented investors who are aware of the challenges it presents?
The answer is complicated.
Supporters of Bitcoin say that the estimates of its carbon footprint are too high. And if the computers that exploit and help process bitcoins are connected to an electrical network that uses wind and solar power, it will eventually become cleaner, exploit and use it.
“We believe that cryptocurrency will eventually be powered entirely by clean power, eliminating its carbon footprint and driving the adoption of renewable energy worldwide,” he said. Dorsey of Square said in a statement as part of his commitment to keep his carbon gas zero. emissions by 2030. The company has invested $ 10 million to invest in new “green energy technologies in Bitcoin mining, and aims to accelerate the transition to clean power.”
At this point, Mr. Gates, who sees himself as a Bitcoin skeptic unrelated to climate issues, said it was possible the challenges could be overcome, but he was not yet convinced.
“If it’s green electricity and does not displace other uses, you know, maybe it’s OK,” he said.
Several companies are working on some counter-intuitive ideas to make Bitcoin green. On Monday, Seetee, an investment firm involved in cryptocurrency, said it plans to invest in Bitcoin “mining operations that transmit beach or interrupted electricity without the local demand for wind, solar, hydropower – to economic assets that can be used anywhere word. “
In other words, the company plans to build wind and solar power in locations that may not be perfectly located for the technology, and will use the extra power to exploit Bitcoin, which in the process earns money. “Bitcoin is, in our view, a charge-balancing economic battery, and batteries are essential for the energy transition needed to achieve the targets of the Paris Agreement,” the company said in its announcement.