At a time when investment in cryptocurrencies is skyrocketing, Bank of America reveals the dark side of these types of digital assets. Focusing specifically on Bitcoin, one of the leading US financial institutions reveals that this currency uses more energy than American Airlines, with this company transporting more than 200 million passengers per year.
Bitcoin’s energy consumption is also comparable to that of the US government itself, which employs over two million people. In addition, every billion dollars transacted is equivalent to having 1.2 million cars on the roads.
“In other words, buying a single Bitcoin for about $50,000 has a carbon footprint of 270 tons, equivalent to 60 cars with internal combustion engines,” Bank of America points out in a note reported by Business Insider.
The bank further explains that Bitcoin’s carbon footprint is directly related to its price, which makes the successive record highs recently achieved worrying. As the price rises, so do the associated pollutant gas emissions skyrocket as more “cryptocurrency miners” work to ensure the cryptocurrency’s existence.
With more and more people involved, Bitcoin’s network gets more complex to meet demand and prevent attacks by cyber criminals. According to Bank of America, this process leads to more energy being consumed.
“Given the relatively linear relationship between Bitcoin prices and energy use, it is perhaps not a surprise that Bitcoin’s estimated energy consumption has grown by more than 200% over the past two years,” the bank indicates.
According to the report, other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum do not use as much energy and therefore have a lower environmental impact, but are still not green options. On the other hand, digital currencies proposed by central banks may be more planet-friendly.
