A new study from the New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG) has projected that Bitcoin’s energy consumption will remain below 0.5% of the global total over the next decade. NYDIG published its 'Bitcoin Net Zero' research paper this month, finding that Bitcoin’s energy consumption and carbon emissions will not skyrocket in the coming years, even if prices do. The study, which was penned by Castle Island Ventures partner Nic Carter and NYDIG founder Ross Stevens, discusses how the network’s carbon emission may change in the future, depending on fluctuations in Bitcoin’s price, mining difficulty and energy consumption. The study’s most …

A new study suggests that Bitcoin has already used more power so far this year than it did in all of 2020. By the end of the year, the Bitcoin network will have consumed 91 terawatt-hours (TWh), and it has already consumed more than the estimated 67 TWh for all of 2020, according to a Monday Bloomberg report. The precise energy consumption figures are variable and not easy to calculate accurately, but the trend is clear — they are increasing. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index currently estimates that Bitcoin is set to consume an even greater 95.68 TWh by …

Tom Baumann of the Climate Chain Coalition: Tom is the founder and co-chair of the Climate Chain Coalition, an open global initiative to advance collaboration on blockchain/DLT and digital solutions to enhance climate actions. “In general, digital solutions can be helpful tools to support a low-carbon economy. The World Economic Forum estimates that digital solutions can help achieve 15% of the Paris Agreement goals. These solutions can be used throughout the entire economy, creating smart grids and buildings, smart transportation, integrating with digital services and more. Digital tools could link sustainable production to sustainable consumption in a more efficient, equitable …

The cryptocurrency market got off to a slow start on Aug. 19 after stimulus tapering talks from the U.S. Federal Reserve put pressure on global financial markets, but momentum within the crypto market picked up in the afternoon session as Bitcoin (BTC) bulls finally managed to break above the $46,000 level. While most altcoins were slow to warm up on Thursday, several altcoins led the way with gains in excess of 20% due to major protocol upgrades and exchange listings. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the biggest gainers over the past 24-hours were Voyager Token (VGX), …

In early July, JPMorgan released a report in which two of the bank’s analysts projected that the staking industry would be worth $40 billion in rewards by 2025. The report anticipates that once the Ethereum 2.0 network completes its transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS,) payouts will more than double, up to $20 billion from the current $9 billion. Within the next four years, it will double again. With the rapid rise of staking over the last few years, it’s hardly surprising that traditional finance analysts are starting to take note. While the JPMorgan analysts are correct that the …

Debates regarding the amount of energy required to mine Bitcoin (BTC) have been ongoing. While tech pioneers such as Elon Musk have recently mentioned that the crypto industry is headed toward a greener future, some academic researchers have noted that mining BTC consumes more power than that of small countries. While these arguments are still hotly debated, it has become clear that awareness of green crypto initiatives has been on the rise. For instance, some Bitcoin miners are now looking at nuclear power as a solution to remove carbon emission from the electricity leveraged to mine BTC. At the same …

Following Beijing’s crackdown on energy-sapping Bitcoin (BTC) mining, Guizhou province has become the country’s first to make use of its freed-up power capacity to advance a climate-conscious agenda. The hydroelectric-rich southern province has recently announced a plan to build at least 4,500 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in 2021. This will ramp up to 5,000 in 2022 and 5,500 the following year. As the South China Morning Post reported, Beijing’s pressure on Bitcoin miners has freed up over 50 terawatt-hours of electricity — enough to sustain an industrialized city with a population of 1 million for 33 years or to …

Bitcoin mining company Greenidge Generation is planning to increase the number of renewable energy sources available for use in New York. In a Thursday announcement, Greenidge said it would be using the profits from its Bitcoin (BTC) miners in the Finger Lakes region of New York state to expedite the closure of a nearby coal ash landfill. The company plans to transform the Lockwood Hills site into a solar farm capable of generating 5 megawatts of power. Greenidge CEO Jeff Kirt said the project was “making more renewable energy a reality by leveraging Bitcoin mining profits to fund the creation …

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has hinted that the crypto industry is on its way toward greener future, but Tesla won’t be accepting Bitcoin payments just yet. Speaking at "The ₿ Word," a virtual Bitcoin (BTC) event, with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Ark Invest’s Cathie Wood and moderator Steve Lee from Square Crypto, Musk said that Tesla would “most likely” consider resuming crypto payments for its vehicles — a policy the CEO said the company would be stopping in May — but said he needed to exercise diligence before making a decision. “There appears to be a positive trend in the …

Authorities in Malaysia destroyed more than $1.2 million worth of Bitcoin mining rigs after they were confiscated for operating illegally. In a video posted today from local news outlet DayakDaily, police in the city of Miri on the island of Borneo and the Sarawak Energy company arranged for a steamroller to run over 1,069 Bitcoin (BTC) miners. The rigs were reportedly confiscated from residents of Malaysia attempting to illegally mine the cryptocurrency using stolen electricity between February and April. According to a Friday report from Malaysian newspaper The Star, the disposal of the mining machines — worth roughly $1.26 million …

A major cryptocurrency and blockchain association in Russia is launching a project to bring global crypto mining operations to the country amid a Chinese crypto mining crackdown. The Russian Association of Cryptoeconomics, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, or RACIB, announced an initiative aimed at transferring global computing resources for crypto mining to the Russian Federation. More information on the project is expected to be released at a later date, a spokesperson for RACIB told Cointelegraph. In order to promote and implement the project, RACIB is closely cooperating with Russian government authorities and state corporations, forming a range of joint working groups …

Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president of Iran under Hassan Rouhani, has called on all legally operating crypto miners in the country to stop producing coins. According to a Wednesday report from the Tasnim News Agency, Jahangiri said at a meeting with officials of the Ministry of Energy that the electricity restrictions for Iranians were likely to continue until early August, purportedly in line with Rouhani’s previously announced prohibition on crypto mining. The president said in May that crypto mining would be banned in the country until September in an attempt to conserve power during the summer months. “We will …