Survey Suggests Environmental Impact of Crypto Mining Isn't Important

Over the past several years, arguments surrounding crypto and its potential impact on the environment have repeatedly come up. There are many people out there that claim crypto mining is hazardous for the planet. They say bitcoin and related cryptocurrencies require too much energy when being mined, and thus they present all kinds of challenges and hazards that are eventually going to have to be dealt with by our children and younger generations.

Crypto Mining Doesn’t Seem to Bother Too Many People

However, according to a new survey, the people that feel this way are in the minority, with roughly 84 percent of individuals feeling that crypto either has little or no impact on the environment. Many of the traders out there really aren’t all that worried about the effects and claim the amount of energy needed to mine digital currencies is smaller than what most people seem to think.

The survey shows that roughly 58 percent of participants do not believe crypto mining has any impact on the environment, while an even smaller portion thinks crypto mining only has a small impact on the planet’s atmosphere. Only six percent of survey takers feel that the world of crypto mining presents a serious threat to Earth’s future.

However, according to Joe Sweeney – managing partner at Cornerstone Wealth – roughly 40 billion tons of carbon dioxide is potentially produced by bitcoin and crypto mining operations throughout the world each year, and about 37 percent of the C02 made through the projects stems from the United States. He commented in an interview:

With so much focus on ESG investing, bitcoin mining has never been good from an energy consumption standpoint. Of course, it’s worse today given supply constraints due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

The argument against crypto mining has taken its toll on the industry for years, and it doesn’t help when high-profile individuals like Elon Musk of SpaceX and Tesla fame have fallen on the opposing side. Over a year ago, Musk made headlines when he announced he was going to allow customers of his electric vehicle company to purchase cars with bitcoin.

This got everyone excited, though the hype only lasted a few short weeks as soon after, Musk rescinded the decision out of fear that the crypto mining sector was causing problems for the planet.

In addition, individuals like Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame also got involved. O’Leary said he would no longer be purchasing any bitcoin mined in China given that the country was not known for invoking environmentally friendly extraction methods.

Let’s Not Hurt the Computers

Owen Murray – director of investments for Horizon Wealth Investors – said:

The fact that crypto is created by torturing computers with pointless busywork to mine the coins is just further evidence of the absurdity of the entire cryptocurrency complex.

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