Since December of 2020, Bitcoin has been up 95%, that being about $17,800. 

This boom of cryptocurrency has opened up interest for many people who support the likes of Tesla, SpaceX, and a multitude of other companies, Elon Musk. The irony of this is that an electric vehicle company such as Tesla claims themselves on their website’s about page, “Tesla believes the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better.” It has also come to focus that Tesla itself would also invest into Bitcoin putting in $1.5 billion into the crypto. 

Although quite interesting in nature, crypto has a terrible future for us. If we were so hellbent on survival due to how bad climate change has affected us, then why would we continue to support a made-up token economy that only raises the risk factor. If it were just speculation on how negatively Bitcoin would affect the environment that would be one thing, but it is not, “And a 2018 study published in Nature Climate Change found Bitcoin emissions alone could raise Earth’s temperature by two degrees” (Brightly.eco). Therefore how could a company, such as Tesla, who received a $1.5 billion subsidy, paid by taxpayers, then turn around and spend that on cryptocurrency. 

As we continue to downplay the effects of cryptocurrencies, we continue to deny their effects on the environment. The United Nations itself has called for a “Code Red” as we come extremely close to flat out destroying the Earth. We physically cannot just ride a thin line because technology calls for cryptocurrencies to be a popular thing. As Cambridge reported in February of 2021, “The online tool has ranked Bitcoin’s electricity consumption above Argentina (121 TWh), the Netherlands (108.8 TWh) and the United Arab Emirates (113.20 TWh) – and it is gradually creeping up on Norway (122.20 TWh)” (BBC). Unless we were to suddenly shift into all renewable energy sources and less of a requirement for coal and other unrenewable sources of energy, 

Our environment stands on an already teetering plate on how easily it will be to tip the scales until environmental ruin. Although we do not need to flat out get rid of the new versions of currency, a huge change must occur in terms of energy development, or else we will not have any options left.