Since May 2021, China has started a hunt against bitcoin mining. Some studies have revealed that banking pollutes more than bitcoin.
China continues to move forward in its banning policy, exterminating more and more bitcoin in its country. On this occasion, it has revealed and made it official the “obsolete” label on cryptocurrency mining.
The National Development and Reform Commission, this January 11, carried out the application of the label, making the amendment on the status published in 2019 that established policies in favor of environmental improvements and the use of clean energies.
The application of the “obsolete” label implies legal repercussions within the country since the purpose is to continue advancing through the dismantling process of the entire industry within the Asian country.
In this sense, China makes official the exit of everything that could embrace the mining of cryptocurrencies within its territory. The time in which the output should get executed is not yet defined.
The Persecution of Miners in China
In May 2021, the beginning of a persecution circle for bitcoin mining in cryptocurrencies started in Inner Mongolia and then spread to 8 of the 25 provinces that make up the Asian country.
The arguments for such moves got based on the environmental policies that China has been promoting. However, it seems that the background plan is to get out of the way to the means of payment that could compete against the CBDC of the Chinese Central Bank, the Digital Yuan.
Bitcoin: A Cause of Global pollution
Under the allegation of clean energies use, many entities have branded bitcoin as a polluting activity due to its mining procedures. Elon Musk recently highlighted that he would not agree to sell his Tesla cars for bitcoin due to the carbon footprint they carry.
However, some studies have shown that Bitcoin does not affect the environment. One of these, interestingly enough, highlights that banks and gold production consume twice as much energy as the Bitcoin infrastructure does.
Research related to current energy consumption levels showed that the returns generated by bitcoin mining do not make it a threat to the environment. After the expulsion of the miners from China, carbon emissions only experienced a reduction in CO2 of at least 10%.
The study, called “Bitcoin Net Zero”, appeared this September 20 by the financial services company in the field of Bitcoin, NYDIG, with the participation of the venture capital firm Castle Island Ventures through Nic Carter, its general partner.
The research closely studies the different factors that involve Bitcoin in the issue related to the carbon footprint and global electricity consumption of cryptocurrency mining.
One of the aspects that the report considered was the growth of world electricity consumption and the role that bitcoin plays in this process. In this case, they noted that, since the launch of the Bitcoin network in 2009, no peak in electricity consumption got reflected.
By: Jenson Nuñez
