Yassine Elmandjra did not accept criticism pointing to Bitcoin mining as a waste. This activity contributes to reducing the methane that derives from the greenhouse effect, the analyst said.
Yassine Elmandjra is one of the analysts at ARK Investment Management LLC (ARK), an investor that manages innovative and disruptive assets. He recently posted in a Twitter thread different reasons why mining Bitcoin does not harm the environment but rather favors it.
Those messages came in response to those who still consider Bitcoin mining to involve an excessive waste of energy and harm the environment. “On the contrary, we believe that the impact of Bitcoin mining is positive for the environment,” Elmandjra wrote.
The analyst spoke of the benefits to the environment of issuing Bitcoin, alluding to the use of stranded energy for mining. He mentioned factors that relate to energy recycling, which characterizes Bitcoin mining.
He noted that most miners use surplus renewable energy, such as excess hydropower. In that way, they obtain cryptocurrencies while making mining greener than the consumption in other industries.
Furthermore, Elmandjra highlighted Bitcoin’s higher efficiency in terms of energy consumption, in contrast to gold and the traditional banking system. The analyst had already said that “Bitcoin is much more efficient than traditional banking and gold mining on a global scale.”
“Traditional banking and gold mining consume 2.34 billion gigajoules (GJ) and 500 million GJ per year, respectively,” said Elmandjra. However, he explained that “Bitcoin consumes 184 million GJ, 10% less than traditional banking and 40% less than gold mining.”
As if these benefits were not enough, Bitcoin mining also contributes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This activity takes advantage of the methane in the atmosphere as a source of energy. Canadian oil companies have been using it for mining since 2019.
Elmandjra closed his Twitter thread citing Parker Lewis; the Head of Business Development at financial services firm Unchained Capital. The latter summarizes the reasons why Bitcoin is not harmful but favorable for the environment.
Lewis says that “a significant part of the energy that Bitcoin mining consumes comes from renewable resources.” The executive explains that “Bitcoin consumes energy that would become waste or burn in the atmosphere.” Besides, he highlights that “Bitcoin consumes energy resources whose development would not be economical.”
Among other aspects, Lewis believes that “Bitcoin will stimulate innovation in the development of renewable energy technology and resources.” He notes that “Bitcoin only consumes the energy that the free market will support at a free-market rate.” Finally, he predicts that “the nature of Bitcoin’s energy demand will improve the efficiency of power grids.”
To conclude, Elmandjra responds to critics of Bitcoin mining that “Bitcoin does not waste energy.” He agrees with Lewis that this activity favors the environment by efficiently taking advantage of renewable energy sources. For example, in China, cryptocurrency miners in Inner Mongolia and other regions use energy that they obtain from coal.
By Alexander Salazar
