The mining of bitcoins is coming under increasing scrutiny due to the increasing amount of energy it consumes. The uptick may be getting close to a tipping point, at which point, in order for the cryptocurrency platform to demonstrate that it is truly a game-changer, it will need to become "cleaner and greener."
The impending Bitcoin and Ethereum Merger is a significant factor that contributes to the low level of interest that investors are showing in Bitcoin at the moment.
Recent statements made by Kyle McDonald on CoinDesk TV's 'First Mover' indicate that he believes the Bitcoin network might be'regulated away' due to the amount of energy it requires.
Independent researcher Kyle McDonald's name is Kyle McDonald. He forecasts that the Bitcoin network might be "regulated away," which would result in a big price decrease for the cryptocurrency.
McDonald then went on to propose that individuals should now begin selling Bitcoin. The reason for this is that once "proof-of-work," the energy-intensive method that Bitcoin has been using to validate transactions, has been replaced by "proof-of-stake," a significantly less energy-intensive method of validating transactions, investors and regulators may realize that the energy-intensive method that Bitcoin has been using, which is called "proof-of-work," was never really required.
According to McDonald, both the "climate disaster" and the "huge expenditure of energy" that Bitcoin generates are problematic. He stated that "Bitcoin does not have the coordination like Ethereum to leave proof-of-work, it might be the first to be regulated away." He meant that Bitcoin does not have the ability to leave proof-of-work.
The amount of energy that crypto mining requires has emerged as a major source of concern and a point of dispute for both environmental groups and governments. McDonald continued by saying that Bitcoin will never again reach $69,000. In November of 2017, Bitcoin (BTC) prices were relatively close to reaching that level.
The planned upgrade to Ethereum, which is effectively a software update termed "the Merge," is slated to take place this month. One significant benefit of this is that fewer machines will be needed to keep the Blockchain operational.
In addition, McDonald stated that "the idea of Ethereum decreasing energy expenses by 99.95% is quite realistic." [Citation needed]
"When you're moving from a system that is about generating as many random numbers as fast as possible with 10 million graphic processing units across the world, to a system that's running on a few thousand computers that are pretty low energy, it's going to make a huge difference," said the researcher. "When you're moving from a system that is about generating as many random numbers as fast as possible with 10 million graphic processing units across the world, it's going to make a huge GPUs, or graphics processing units, are put to use in the mining of cryptocurrencies.
A "bottom-up" strategy is utilized in Ethereum Emissions tracker that was developed by McDonald. This was done in order to monitor the flow of energy associated with Ethereum. According to the McDonald's website, the cost of Ethereum or the cost of power is not taken into account in this calculation.
He explained, "I'm going to start with the hashrate, then look at the hardware, and finally make a technical argument for how much electricity needs to be consumed."
NFT risk
McDonald highlights a significant danger that is associated with non-fungible tokens in his analysis (NFTs). According to what he said, "there's a good probability some miners are going to switch to proof-of-work briefly after the Merge happens."
He went on to say that there is a possibility that even if the miners do switch, there may be duplicates of NFTs for a brief length of time on another chain. This is something that he said is a possibility. Therefore, if anything like that occurs, it has the potential to "even dilute their values."
OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in the world, recently announced that it will support only the proof-of-stake chain going forward. Additionally, OpenSea mentioned that it has been preparing for the shift in order to ensure that the process is carried out without any hiccups.
Why is it Necessary to Btc Upgrade the System?
It may come as a surprise to learn that a single Ethereum transaction can use as much electricity as a typical home in the United States consumes in excess of a week. Even bad is the amount of electricity that Bitcoin consumes.
Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency in the world, is expected to use up to 150 terawatt-hours of electricity each year. This is sufficient to power the entire nation of Argentina, which has a population of 45 million people. Producing that much energy results in the release of around 65 megatons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere yearly. This amount is comparable to the emissions that Greece produces, making Bitcoin a big contributor to the global pollution of the air and the change in climate.
