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- Musk’s comment will be a changing point for how Bitcoin is perceived, believes Gryphon Digital Mining CEO, Robert Chang.
- Industries, becoming increasingly aware of the climatic impacts of their operations, are now opting for options with the least carbon footprints.
- The potential environment harming aspect of crypto mining has been the subject of many debates and controversies.
Bitcoin (BTC) price results haven’t been doing well as of late. Wednesday morning witnessed the price plummeting down to as low as $31,663 at around 1:00 p.m. UTC. This subdued trail, representing a nearly 40% drop from the all-time high of $64,863, was blazed by Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk with his tweet bashing the bitcoin mining process for the fossil fuel emissions.
Gryphon CEO: Bitcoin’s Energy Use & Emission
Musk’s comment will be “a changing point for the way Bitcoin is perceived,” believes Gryphon Digital Mining CEO Robert Chang. This Tuesday on Yahoo Finance Live, he said, Musk is “casting a spotlight” on Bitcoin’s energy use, “which is relevant” and brings companies like theirs to the “forefront.”
According to Chang, though Bitcoin’s emissions are significant, they aren’t “out of this world.” He believes carbon-free mining is now “doable,” and as opposed to the general belief, renewable energy sources don’t have to be expensive.
Gryphon Digital Mining
Founded in 2020, Gryphon is a green or carbon-free crypto mining company and operates using hydropower. Last month, it raised $14 million to fund the launch of Bitcoin mining operations with zero carbon footprint and recently signed the Crypto Climate Accord to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for all signatories by 2040. Industries are becoming increasingly aware of their operations’ climatic impacts, thus opting for options leaving the least carbon footprints. Indeed, the race for carbon-free bitcoin mining has already begun.
Environmental Impact Of Bitcoin Mining
Last week, Musk announced that Tesla had ceased Bitcoin as a payment option for vehicle purchases due to its alarming environmental impacts. Following a cryptocurrency purchase worth $1.5 billion in February, the electric automaker began accepting Bitcoin in March. Seeing how Musk has been the most prominent cryptocurrency advocate to date, the announcement was bound to have a considerable impact.
The potential environment harming aspect of crypto mining has been the subject of many debates and controversies. The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index revealed Bitcoin mining’s annual electricity consumption exceeds that of countries like Argentina and Ukraine. A March-published Decrypt article equated Bitcoin’s carbon emissions to the yearly average electricity consumption of 9 million households, while the global emission is 620 times that of Bitcoin. According to Chang, considering its overall value, Bitcoin’s emission is within the acceptable norm, similar to how the U.S. accepted energy consumption to print the dollar.
Chang Suggests Perspective Switch
The executive suggested a change of perspective, saying “we should look at the utility of bitcoin as opposed to focusing so much on the cost of it.” Just like the early cars that emitted far more fossil fuels than its predecessor, the horse, and carriage, and gradually evolved to current car models, “Bitcoin is following a similar trajectory.”
Although Chang deems Musk’s comments good for carbon-free mining companies and the industry’s long-term development, its large-scale blow to the cryptocurrency markets is also undeniable.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.
