<!-- wp:html --><p>Tony C French / Getty</p>
<p>It’s abundantly clear that the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is a<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/a-crypto-mine-is-making-life-a-daily-hell-for-a-small-town-in-north-carolina"> pernicious blight</a> on<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/local-texans-are-furious-about-bitcoin-miner-riot-blockchain-exploiting-state-energy-woes"> the environment</a> and<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/new-york-states-crypto-mining-ban-means-a-foggy-future-for-bitcoin-and-others"> efforts to fight climate change</a>—<a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-cryptocurrencies-are-failing-spectacularly-to-greenwash-themselves">no matter how much Bitcoin advocates say otherwise</a>.</p>
<p>And it turns out the costs of Bitcoin’s environmental destruction is on par with that of the beef industry, according to a<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-18686-8"> new study published Thursday in <em>Scientific Reports</em></a>. The authors—economists from the University of New Mexico—say that rather than representing a new kind of “digital gold,” Bitcoin is emerging more as a “digital crude” when it comes to a climate perspective.</p>
<p>At the end of last year, the market value for Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, was projected to be about $960 billion. Advocates have consistently promoted Bitcoin as a potential tool that can be used to encourage the exchange and growth of sustainable products and services.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/bitcoins-climate-damage-is-on-par-with-beef-and-crude-oil?source=articles&via=rss">Read more at The Daily Beast.</a></p><!-- /wp:html -->
And it turns out the costs of Bitcoin’s environmental destruction is on par with that of the beef industry, according to a new study published Thursday in Scientific Reports. The authors—economists from the University of New Mexico—say that rather than representing a new kind of “digital gold,” Bitcoin is emerging more as a “digital crude” when it comes to a climate perspective.
At the end of last year, the market value for Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, was projected to be about $960 billion. Advocates have consistently promoted Bitcoin as a potential tool that can be used to encourage the exchange and growth of sustainable products and services.
