For folks who read any sort of news regarding Cryptocurrency and the environment have most certainly come into contact with the staggering statistics on the energy consumption of large crypto mining operations. Bitcoin's energy consumption alone is on par with that of Argentina, and it is only bound to consume more as blocks increase in complexity to solve. Right now we have reached a critical point in crypto adoption, where there has been a massive influx in both institutional and retail interest in the Bitcoin markets, it has put a surge on demand for compute power and the energy required to support that.
Regardless of the interconnectivity between the changes in the Ethereum network and the planned show-of-power protest planned by ETH miners, what I find more interesting is the obvious connection between our financial futures, free from a centralized authority, and addressing the issue of renewable energy as it pertains to the climate crisis. Of course it goes without saying, that if there is no habitable earth, we needn't be worrying about what kind of money we are going to be making. However, it is quite important to put the impetus in adopting renewable energy as a means to extricate ourselves from the grips of the very institutions that profit off us but do not serve our interests.
An exciting aspect of the world before us with crypto in our wallets, is the persistent understanding that quantitative value for material objects is arbitrary and is more about an agreed upon understanding, or a shared meaning. While there are materials that exist in abundance (the abject refusal of some of these big tech giants to not reuse or reclaim old components is another discussion entirely) what is truly limited in our experience is our time, our attentions, and our personal energy. Our present understanding of how we move through the world is that we extract and exploit the tiniest bit of what is useful from the whole and create an excessive amount of waste in the process (the process of refining sugar comes to mind - what's wrong with whole sugar cane? Nothing, nothing is wrong with whole sugar cane.). If we were to adopt a holistic outlook on our shared natural resources, we can see that the scarcity in actual supply is a lie, and if value is derived from relative scarcity - the most valuable resources we have are what are actually on loan to us (time, energy, attention) while we are driving these meat suits around. So, it would make sense that we should be able to leverage what is available to us in bounty to make the most of what we have very little of.
With all of this in mind, and to keep it tied into cryptocurrency, it is hard to say what is going to come down the pipe in the next few years. It's hard to predict what the next heavy-hitter in the market will be, and if whether or not we as a collective champion different consensus models over others. What is absolutely apparent though, and imperative to wider-adoption is that wherever possible as early adopters, we need to make moves to ensure a grid powered by renewable energy is in the works. Mike Colyer, Chief Executive at Foundry (one of Grayscale's sister companies) told Market Insider that he thinks that Bitcoin is the bridge between our current energy policy and the step into the future of renewables.
The Biden administration is just releasing a broad outline of its first signature piece of legislation. Side-stepping from the precedent of the last four presidents who made their focus upon entry Taxes & Healthcare, this legislation will have elements in that but is going to be tackling the issues related to infrastructure with addressing climate change at its core. Politico notes that this legislation has ambitions to be carbon pollution-free by 2035, which means great things in the world of crypto. The more we as individuals push our elected leaders to support legislation that centers the need for a grid powered by renewable energy, the more that innovators and shakers in this realm can be left to just innovate and create the next project that is going to further set folks free from centralized authorities. Definitely feels like a bit of an oxymoron, to want to step away from central authority and needing to leverage what is already in place to get there. If there is one thing that COVID and ongoing other catastrophes in the world is proving, is that central authorities care not for us, and we are stronger together when we keep collective interests in mind. (I am not saying that the individual cannot be autonomous and have their own personal boundaries, just that humans are social creatures, pack animals, and Darwin ultimately leads us to the conclusion that species survive when they are more cooperative.)
What I leave off with is that we are powerful on our own when we realize it, we are even more powerful when we stand with others who recognize their power also. Yes, take steps as an individual to divest from fossil fuels (I drive a car that uses gas, so I am not here to pass judgments or finger wag from some sanctimonious moral high ground here), pressure those who are supposedly there to represent us, and we can have the future we know is possible. Let the currency flow as it should.
