Media stigma & Informed Decisions, but have you thought about going green?
Well, let’s be honest, somebody is always talking negatively about it in some form, but is there something green out there other than the green of money?
But the reason this time is due to its inefficiencies with regards to the environment and how the media is portraying it as an environmental killer.
We all know how the media loves to drag anything through the mud, with an invested one-sided opinion on the majority of topics, and so many of us can get drawn into the hype of it.
Let’s take a look at some here;
Not only are these headlines very much in your face about how bitcoin is killing our world but when we dive into evidence and statistics around bitcoin and its impact we also find the evidence to support the headlines.
All of this information is of course quite full-on, and technically speaking a pretty old fashioned way of thinking. With the rise of cryptocurrency and the future of financials depending on something cleaner, there are in fact greener options that we can sink our teeth into.
Plus, I’m not here to persuade you to never give crypto a go, in fact quite the opposite, hence this article providing you with options that are more than just the larger crypto names.
Have you done your crypto research?
Well, have you done your crypto research? Other than focus on the negatives, have you delved into the possibilities of it? Because let’s be honest, with so much negativity out in the press right now, it can be hard to focus us on the good.
There’s no harm if you haven’t researched, and this isn’t a space to hold judgement, because…this is actually technically my job.
I’m an accountant.
But not that boring kind, I’m the invested crypto kind, who actually wants to educate people into making informed decisions about their finances.
So of course I have done the research for you.
Nephos, one of the businesses that I own and run, works with crypto, and one of our main goals is to hit net-zero, therefore research is not only key to the business but also for our clients, take the following research paper, Square:
The header states: ‘Bitcoin is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future’ & they state the following facts;
Bitcoin mining presents an opportunity to accelerate the global energy transition to renewables by serving as a complementary technology for clean energy production and storage.
Solar and wind are now the least expensive energy sources in the world, but are hitting deployment bottlenecks primarily because of their intermittent power supply and grid congestion.
Bitcoin miners as a flexible load option could potentially help solve much of these intermittency and congestion problems, allowing grids to deploy substantially more renewable energy.
By deploying more solar and wind, these generation technologies will likely fall even further down their respective cost curves, bringing them closer to zero marginal cost energy production.
So now I have highlighted the positive elements, let’s look at how you can implement greener choices into your crypto wallet.
Green Crypto Options
With many elements at play when it comes to crypto, it can be hard to say which ones are the ‘greenest’ as we always have to have the understanding that whilst these smaller crypto options are greener, when they become larger giants such as bitcoin, they may become just as impactful, if not worse than bitcoin itself.
However, with awareness being at the forefront of many businesses and online platforms more than ever before, we can rest assured that there are options that will be less impactful compared to the crypto giants.
So let’s take a look.
As a quick side note, the following crypto options are ones in which myself and my business also hold, which is why I recommend them as I would never put forward something I have not researched or used myself.
Nano
Want something that is free & fast?
Well, Nano is your go-to.
Using a considerable amount less energy than bitcoin, it has shown a small carbon footprint and doesn’t rely on mining.
So why is it energy efficient? This is because it uses block-lattice technology and is still reliant on ‘Proof of Work’ mechanism.
HBAR
HBAR, or in long-form Hedera Hashgraph, is one of the worlds biggest cryptocurrency networks, and whilst this may make you think it should have a huge energy output, you would be wrong.
The reason for this is due to its proof-of-stake token, meaning it uses far less energy than proof-of-work tokens like Bitcoin.
Performing the equivalent of over 10,000,000 transactions and 788,000 for the same amount of energy it takes Bitcoin & Ethereum to process ONE respectively. Madness.
Fun facts about Hedera?
The average Bitcoin transaction consumes 1,736.85 kWh, producing 825.00 kgCO2.
Hedera on the other hand consumes per transaction 0.00017 kWh, estimated to .0000205494552 kgCO2.
Ripple XRP
Ripple XRP is not a currency in itself, it is a private platform that focuses on a voting system that relies on validators worldwide. Ripple is a pre-mined token that bridges asset transfers and can manage more than 1500 transactions per second.
Did you know that around 80% of Ripples networks have to approve a transaction before it gets added to the XRP ledger?
Cardano
Originally developed by the co-founder of Ethereum, it works mainly as a digital currency, but can also be used for;
- DApps
- Digital Contracts
Comparing it to Bitcoin’s 7 transactions a second, Cardano can achieve 1000 per second.
Cardano uses a ‘Proof of Stake’ — which means those participating in the currency buy tokens to join the network, helping to save energy.
Final Thoughts
Whilst this is a lot to take on board, it’s always important for me to highlight what is happening within the crypto world so that you can make informed decisions about your investments.
Now, to note, this isn’t financial advice in the slightest, merely educational facts and pointers, with information gathered from various sources across the net and my own thoughts.
If you would like more support or further advice on crypto investments, please contact me directly.
Joe.
