I have to admit that I’ve heard about the cryptocurrency Bitcoin but knew nothing about it until I read this. The process of creating Bitcoin to spend or trade consumes around 91 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, more than used by Finland, with about 5.5 million people. That’s close to half-a-percent of all the electricity the world consumes and has increased about tenfold in just the past five years. Bitcoin is a cash-like electronic payment system that cuts out the middlemen (banks, credit-card networks, and such). It’s so complicated that to fully understand, I recommend checking the link below. Clearly it’s adding to the climate crisis.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/09/03/climate/bitcoin-carbon-footprint-electricity.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=Climate%20and%20Environment