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Bitcoin is a virtual, decentralized currency based on Blockchain technology. Regardless of where you send Bitcoin, the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from these transactions are distributed around the world. Furthermore, with the increasing public and institutional interest in Bitcoin, the value, complexity of Bitcoin mining, Blockchain networks...
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... the increasing public and institutional interest in Bitcoin over the last 6 years, the value, complexity of Bitcoin mining, Blockchain networks, as well as the energy required for Bitcoin mining have been rapidly increasing both annually, per hash rate, as well as per transaction. Here, we employed a comprehensive life-cycle assessment approach, conducted an up-todate estimation of Bitcoin mining for the last 6 years, thus highlighted the rapidly increasing trend ( Fig. 1 and Supplementary Figures 5 and 6). The total global annual energy consumption and emissions show a constantly increasing trend since 2015 when the total energy consumption was only 0.152 TWh. ...
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The distributed consensus mechanism is the backbone of the rapidly developing blockchain network. Blockchain platforms consume vast amounts of electricity based on the current consensus mechanism of Proof of Work. Here, we point out an advanced consensus mechanism named Proof of Stake that can eliminate the extensive energy consumption of the curre...
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... These findings suggest that the increasing Bitcoin value and returns have a negative impact on world sustainability. This outcome is consistent with previous studies (De Vries, 2018;Li et al., 2019), where they found that increased Bitcoin is harmful for sustainability due to high energy consumption and carbon emissions around the globe (Gallersd€ orfer et al., 2020;Onat et al., 2021). Recently, Elon Musk also announced that Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin because Bitcoins are using massive amounts of fossil fuel for transactions and mining. ...
This article aims to explore the co-movement of daily returns among S&P green bonds (GB/GBs), the top five sustainable cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSWI) and the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Market Index (DJSEMI) to determine whether GBs, Bitcoin and sustainable cryptocurrencies are truly sustainable; in addition, it investigates hedging and diversification opportunities. Using a partial wavelet coherence framework to capture the bivariate co-movement, our findings show strong (weak) positive co-movements among GB (sustainable cryptocurrencies) and DJSWI returns, where GBs (sustainable cryptocurrencies) have a heterogeneous leading role in the short-term and long-term horizons. Results indicate moderate positive (negative) co-movement among GBs and sustainable cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin) and DJSWI in the short run (long run). Overall, the results show GB (sustainable cryptocurrencies) acts as a diversifier for Bitcoin and sustainable cryptocurrencies in most cases (DJSWI). However, increasing Bitcoin returns adversely impacts the DJSWI in the long run. Findings are equally imperative for green investors, crypto traders and policymakers, where investors and traders can earn financial and social returns, and policy-makers can deploy suitable policies for the development of sustainable cryptocurrency mining processes. The role of Bitcoin is alarming for the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and global greener economy.
