[서울=뉴스핌] Reporter Lee Young-ki = As companies and investors around the world put more weight on climate and sustainability, the huge power consumption of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin is emerging as an issue. This is where the red light turns on in cryptocurrency.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 9th (local time), Andrew Sorkin, editor of the dealbook and host of CNBC’s squarkbox, recently told Bill Gates: “Bitcoin transactions consume more power than anything else, so climate change And the related problem is a problem.”
According to Sorkin’s contribution on the day, while companies and investors each focus on climate and sustainability issues, on the other hand, they are feeling a conflict over the reality that bitcoins worth 1 trillion dollars (about 1130 trillion won) are traded.
Companies and investors around the world can no longer be indifferent to cryptocurrency, as individuals as well as tech giants like Tesla are passionate about buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
On the other hand, research has shown that the annual carbon emission from electricity generation for mining and trading bitcoin is close to that of New Zealand and Argentina.
Digiconomist, who created the energy consumption index of Bitcoin, says that a single transaction in Bitcoin consumes 740,000 Visa card payments or the amount of electricity required to watch YouTube 55,000 hours.
Black Rock’s chairman Larry Pink, who manages $9 trillion in assets, said, “All investments made by our company will be evaluated according to how the target company responds to climate change.”
So far, Bitcoin’s carbon emission problem has not been able to enjoy its price. One unit of bitcoin that was $8,000 last year has now exceeded $50,000.
Will companies that invest in Bitcoin become the scarlet letters of this era? Bitcoin advocates are refuting that the power required for mining and trading Bitcoin and the associated carbon emissions have been exaggerated.
Jack Doshi, founder of Square, an online payment company in the United States, said, “The electricity related to cryptocurrency mining and trading will eventually be replaced by clean electricity such as renewable energy.”
Until recently, about two-thirds of Bitcoin mining was done in China. Mining sites are also concentrated in places where coal power plants are concentrated in China. The scientific journal’Joule’, which insists on the imposition of a carbon tax, argues that “regulations on carbon emissions, mostly related to speculation, will be the cornerstone of a decarbonization economy.”
Larry Pink was skeptical about Bitcoin even before he got interested in the climate change issue. He said, “For me, I am more interested in effectiveness and I am watching the situation.”
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