Cryptocurrency mining has a huge carbon footprint. Here’s what experts think we should do about it.
By Domenic Purdy
As currencies like bitcoin and dogecoin make digital currency as valid a form of payment as the U.S. dollar and euro, experts seek new environmentally-friendly solutions to the massive amounts of energy cryptocurrency consumes.
Cryptocurrencies are digital currency that are not subject to a central authority that regulates the currency’s value like Federal Reserve for the U.S. dollar or the European Central Bank for the euro. Despite fluctuating market values that are more volatile than most nationally backed currencies, cryptocurrency has taken a foothold in the financial world.
The most popular cryptocurrency, bitcoin, has a combined market value of $653 billion U.S. dollars—equivalent to 1.8% of the combined value of the world's money supply, according ...