Before Ethereum moved to Proof of Stake (PoS), Bitcoin
Extremist Michael Saylor has spoken out against what he calls “disinformation and propaganda” about the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining for Proof of Work (PoW).
The MicroStrategy CEO, who recently stepped down as CEO, shared a lengthy post on his Twitter account on Wednesday detailing his “seven high-level thoughts” on BTC mining and its impact on the environment.
With the amount of misinformation and propaganda circulating lately, I think it is important to share the truth about #bitcoin mining and the environment. https://t.co/CRkayFwDsj
– Michael Saylor (@saylor) September 14, 2022
One of his main arguments was against the fact that PoW BTC mining is not energy efficient.
Instead, Saylor claims to have “the cleanest industrial use of electricity and the fastest energy efficiency improvement of any major industry.”
He backed his argument with numbers from the Q2 Global Bitcoin Data Mining Review published in July by the Bitcoin Mining Council, a group of 45 companies that claim to represent 50.5% of the global network, which states:
“Our calculations show that 59.5% of the energy used in bitcoin mining comes from sustainable sources, and energy efficiency has increased by 46% compared to last year.”
Saylor’s argument stems from the fact that the BTC mining industry is under great pressure due to perceived environmental impacts, which has led some US states to take steps to ban cryptocurrency mining.
Sailor claims that continuous network improvements and “continuous improvement in semiconductors” make mining more energy efficient than big tech companies like Google, Netflix or Facebook.
“To date, approximately $4 to $5 billion of electricity is used to power and protect the $420 billion network,” said Sailor.
“This makes Bitcoin less energy efficient than Google, Netflix or Facebook and 1-2 orders of magnitude less energy efficient than traditional industries of the 20th century such as airlines, logistics, retail, hospitality and agriculture.”
Saylor also mentioned that 99.92% of the world’s carbon emissions come from industrial energy uses other than bitcoin mining.
Looking at the numbers, Sailor doesn’t see the environmental arguments condemning Proof of Work mining as fair.
Rather, in his view, this is an attempt to “grab negative attention to Proof of Work mining” and distract authorities from “the inconvenient fact that Proof of Stake crypto assets are typically unregistered securities that are traded on unregulated exchanges.”
In one of the most high-profile lawsuits to date, Ripple has been involved in a lawsuit with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging that it was selling unregistered securities in the form of Ripple.
XRP
RELATED: Michael Saylor Dies, But Bitcoin Investors Don’t Need to Panic
Bahar concluded by saying that all the negativity associated with Proof of Work mining detracts from its potential benefits to the world.
“Bitcoin mining has the potential to bring a clean, profitable and sophisticated hard-currency industry to remote parts of the developing world, connected only by satellite.”
