Introduction
Many people find crypto mining as a viable way to earn cryptocurrencies. The most important thing is that crypto mining secures the blockchain network by verifying the transactions. However, there are several criticisms raised against crypto mining.
More specifically, environmentalists have leveled big criticisms against crypto mining.
You can somehow relate to it why they don’t like crypto mining if you are aware of crypto mining and how it works. However, if you don’t know anything about how crypto mining works, you need to read the basics of it.
Crypto Mining Basics
Most cryptocurrencies work on the concept of decentralization.
So, they don’t require a third-party to control and manage the transactions. In simple terms, cryptocurrencies are created by individuals by solving alphanumeric problems. The problems are nothing but the crypto transactions, and they need to be verified by users in the network.
Earlier, crypto mining was feasible from a general computer like a domestic PC. But it’s neither feasible nor profitable to mine cryptocurrencies from normal computers. They need high processing devices that can solve problems faster and accurately. Although there several reasons, these two are the most important:
- The computational problems are becoming more complicated as more transactions are added to the blockchain.
- Every day due to the rising number of miners in the crypto space, there is high competition among crypto miners making it difficult to earn rewards.
So, crypto miners are looking for high processing devices like ASIC or GPU.
The Need for High Processing Devices
With the rising competition in the crypto mining space, the difficulty of computation problems is increasing. It’s necessary to solve the new transactions to bring new cryptocurrencies into circulation. To solve these complex problems, high processing devices such as Application Specific Integrated Circuits are required.
These devices consume more electricity and increase the cost of mining. Due to the continuous mining process, an enormous amount of energy is required. If the mining cost exceeds the profit gained then, there is no point in investing in the mining process. It’s one of the significant challenges in crypto mining that crypto miners criticize about.
Some crypto miners are disappointed as they don’t get any reward because solving problems is not the only condition to earn a reward. Miners need to solve it before anyone has solved the problem, which makes the mining process more critical.
However, environmentalists are more concerned about the high power consumption and climate change impact of crypto mining.
Impact of Crypto Mining on Environment
The impact of crypto mining on the environment is negative due to high power consumption. It’s worst in the areas where crypto mining depends on dirty energy sources like coal-based power plants. In such areas, the environmental impact of crypto mining is very bad.
Studies show that carbon emissions due to crypto mining are around 3-15 tons depending on the energy sources.
One of the largest producers of coal mining is China that provides the cheapest crypto mining process. However, the carbon emissions that are produced from coal-based energy sources can be reduced four times with renewable energy sources.
However, it can increase the cost of energy consumption, which makes the mining process more expensive.
These things can make living conditions worse, and it urges environmentalists to criticize crypto mining. They want the government to regulate the usage of energy sources of crypto mining firms. So, it can be a threat to small miners who don’t have backup plans.
Therefore, many people don’t want to take the risk of mining and choose to invest in cryptocurrencies directly. Visit pushmoney.app if you want to invest in cryptocurrencies.
Conclusion
Hopefully, the above information has helped you to know the impact of crypto mining on the environment.
As mentioned above, environmentalists are criticizing crypto mining because of the negative impact on the environment due to cheaper crypto mining energy sources. Please share what you think about it in the comments section.