At a time when Bitcoin continues its inexorable rise, the ecological problem posed by crypto currencies is still not solved. But already on the horizon are solutions that could solve this problem.
Mining causing environmental problems
First of all, at the creation of Bitcoin, the mining, this operation of creating coins by validating transactions, was simple. Anyone with his desktop could do this activity.
But since all this has changed and now it is real mining farms that are necessary for its extraction.
It should be noted that the country that accounts for most of this market is China.
But this activity is extremely energy intensive and electricity in China is produced from coal, which is very polluting.
In addition to Chinese farms, there are several farms around the world, and many are set to open soon in different countries.
For example in Russia, Northern Europe and North America.
Among them, one of the largest in North America will open soon.
It is a partnership between two mining companies: Hut 8 and Bitfury.
If all goes as planned, it will be the largest mining farm in the region with a capacity of 60 megawatts.
For starters, the company could acquire 22 data centers, and then another 35 could open.
What solutions will make the cryptocurrency world greener?
But all these mega farms, besides the problem of centralization, pose as we said, a huge problem of pollution.
According to the Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking study, this industry would have a total consumption of 228 megawatts.
To remedy this problem, several solutions are available to cryptocurrencies.
Clean energies
The first solution is already used in Austria by Hydromer. These are hydro farms. This energy emits only 5 to 10% of CO2 compared to the production of electricity from fossil fuels. And it also saves 85% of production costs.
Proof-of-Stake
The second solution is to go from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
The first requires a great deal of computing power and therefore electricity. While the “proof-of-stake” is much less energy consuming. In this case, only one user with a large number of Bitcoins is required to validate a transaction.
Smart contracts
The third solution: smart contracts, or Smart contracts.
These allow to validate transactions without consuming a lot of electricity. But, problem, they are based solely on the Ethereum network.
Proof-of-work deferred
Fourth solution: deferred proof-of-work.
This new form of mining secures transactions without the need for many minors. In this case, a block is mined only as part of a transaction.
Useful proof-of-work
Finally, useful proof of work.
In this case, the energy used by the network is recycled. That is, it will be used for other jobs requiring high computing power. For example for medical research or other. This is what GridCoin and FoldingCoin are already doing.
It is in the interest of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies to quickly look into this problem and find solutions. There is the future of cryptocurrencies and incidentally of our planet!
