According to a new study published in Scientific Reports on Thursday, the digital asset is among some of the world's most environmental unfriendly industries due to the cost of production.
The economic costs of carbon dioxide emissions were used to calculate the climate-related damages of each bitcoins generated.
Between 2016 and 2021, the average climate damages of each bitcoins mined rose to over 50% of its market value.
The researchers said that the numbers placebitcoin, which is often described as a "digital gold," much closer to industries like beef production, producing gasoline from crude oil, and using natural gas to generate electricity.
According to the researchers, gold has climate costs of 4% of its value, while bitcoin has climate costs of less than 1% of its value.
The carbon emissions have increased 126 fold over the course of the last two years, according to the researchers.
The cost of the environment has become a key point in the future of the sector. The researchers estimated that the amount of energy used by the mining of the virtual currency was more than any other country. When China cracked down on the industry due to environmental reasons, miners had to scramble to find new places to live. Cryptocurrencies can be created and used more efficiently than before. The second largest digital currency, ether, recently switched to a more sustainable system, dubbed the "Merge." It is possible that a similar shift could happen in the future and that people are trying to make the industry cleaner by using green energy.
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