Bitcoin Mining as Bad for Planet as Oil Drilling, Scientists Say

A new study has found that the environment is worse when it comes to mining than it is when it is gold.

The University of New Mexico has published research in the journal Scientific Reports that makes a counter claim to the claim that the mining is sustainable.

Professor Benjamin Jones of UNM's economics school said in a press release that there was no evidence that the mining of virtual currency was sustainable over time. "Our results show that the climate is becoming more damaging to the climate over time, as a result of the dirtier and more harmful mining practices of the digital currency," said the statement.

Two of the most destructive industries on Earth are crude oil drilling and refining, according to the researchers.

The environmental footprint ofBitcoin is moving in the wrong direction.

When the coin was not worth the damage it would cause, there were times when it wasn't worth the trouble.

The economics researcher and paper co-author said in the UNM statement that there are instances where the climate is more damaging to the environment than a single Bitcoins is worth. Climate damages are created in excess of a coin's value when it is mined using the digital currency.

In the last two years, the researchers have calculated that the amount of electricity generated by the coin has increased by 126 percent.

The statement said that the total global damages exceeded 12 billionUSD between 2016 and 2021. In May 2020, global climate damages peaked at 15% of the coin price, suggesting that each 1USD of Bitcoins market value generated led to 1.56USD in global climate damages.

There may be a path out of the outrageous environmental harm caused by Bitcoin mining with the shift away from the energy intensive proof-of-work mining methodology.

For now, there's nothing stopping anyone from mining, even if it's only for a short period of time.

Researchers at the University of New Mexico found that the mining of virtual currency is unsustainable.

The miners can still pollute after the fork, but it's already crashed in value.