Features Crypto News by Thebittimes.Com

The Environmental Impact of DeFi: Energy Consumption and Sustainability! Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has revolutionized the global financial landscape, providing open and permissionless access to financial services. However, as DeFi continues to grow, so do concerns about its environmental impact, particularly the energy consumption associated with blockchain technology. The Energy Cost of DeFi: Proof-of-Work Concerns Many DeFi applications rely on blockchain networks to operate securely and transparently. Some of these networks, particularly those using Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanisms, consume vast amounts of energy. Bitcoin, for example, has often been criticized for its high electricity consumption, comparable to that of entire nations. Similarly, Ethereum, before it transitioned to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), was another major energy consumer due to its PoW-based mining. The primary issue with PoW is its reliance on computational power to validate transactions and secure the ne...

Bitcoin's hash rate has continued to increase and yet its emissions intensity has been trending down, contrary to most other industries, Bloomberg analyst Jamie Coutts explained. While the Bitcoin network has continued to expand over the years, the Bitcoin mining industry has yet to see a comparable increase in carbon footprint — an achievement that a Bloomberg analyst argues “few industries can claim.” This, in turn, could drive the next wave of institutional investment. On Sept. 20, Bloomberg crypto market analyst Jamie Coutts cited data showing that the sustainable energy mix for Bitcoin has continued to rise since 2021, and is now over 50%. This has led to the growth of emissions slowing relative to the network’s continued expansion. “Bitcoin as a global monetary network is scaling while its carbon impact declines. Few industries can claim this achievement” He said that the evolving relationship between Bitcoin network growth and the global push to transition from fossil fuels...