The Crypto vs Climate Showdown – India’s Leading Solar Magazine

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In the great crypto mining climate debate, there are two sides to it.

First of all, crypto enthusiasts like Square say things like, “Bitcoin is the key to an abundant and clean energy future.”

And then there are the energy freaks, who point out that if bitcoin mining was a country, it would already be in the top 30 for total energy consumption, rivaling Ukraine.

The energy camp tends to dismiss the thinking of crypto enthusiasts. They are skeptical of how crypto mines could be an asset to a decarbonization network, rather than pressure on it.

To cut the noise short, Shayle sat down with Nick Grossman, a partner at respected venture capital firm Union Square Ventures. USV was the largest first investor in Coinbase, which currently has a market cap of $ 49 billion. But USV has invested heavily in climate technology and raised a specific climate fund. Nick straddles both the crypto and climate worlds, so he’s the perfect person to help me make sense of this madness.

Nick and Shayle break down the basics of cryptocurrency into energy backed assets. They examine the argument that crypto mines improve the economics of renewable energy, because they will always be willing to buy cheap renewable energy. This, in turn, helps finance the overbuilding of renewable projects to help meet peak demand, at least that’s what one thinks.

But are intermittent renewables improving the economics of crypto mines? In other words: is it profitable to mine intermittently?

They also discuss green bitcoin certificates and alternatives to the energy-intensive crypto security model: proof of stake, proof of space-time, and proof of location.

And they’re evaluating Shayles’ (surely serious) startup pitch for matching crypto mines with seasonal renewables: put mines on barges and cycle them back and forth between renewable projects in the northern and southern hemispheres.

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Source: greentechmedia

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