Recent Analysis Compares Waste From One Bitcoin Transaction To Throwing Out Two iPhones
19 September 2021 - 10:00PM
NEWSBTC
There have been many studies that have highlighted the carbon
footprint and electricity usage problems of Bitcoin transactions.
Founder of Digiconomist Alex de Vries and researcher at MIT’s
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Christian
Stoll, released a new study that shines a light on the electronic
waste that Bitcoin generates. Related Reading | How Elon Musk
Is The Answer To Bitcoin Energy FUD This study, “titled
Bitcoin’s growing e-waste problem”, provides new insights into
another major component of Bitcoin’s wasteful design. The
Electronic Waste Problem Of Bitcoin Most studies have ignored the
fact that Bitcoin miners go through a large amount of short-lived
hardware that could increase global electronic waste growth.
“E-waste represents a growing threat to our environment, from toxic
chemicals and heavy metals leaching into soils, to air and water
pollutions caused by improper recycling.” According to the study, a
single transaction generates 272 grams of e-waste, the same amount
of electronic waste as throwing two iPhone 12 minis in the bin. In
2020 the bitcoin network processed 112.5m transactions (compared
with 539bn processed by traditional payment service providers in
2019). “Bitcoin’s annual e-waste generation adds up to 30.7 metric
kilotons as of May 2021,” they claim. “This number is comparable to
the amount of small IT and telecommunication equipment waste
produced by a country like the Netherlands.” This figure could
increase to more than 64.4 metric kilotons of waste. They also
point out that the demand for mining hardware already today
disrupts the global semiconductor supply chain, which is currently
suffering a global shortage due to increased need in the
coronavirus pandemic, as well as a US-China trade war and drought
in Taiwan. BTC trading at $47.6K | Source: BTCUSD on
TradingView.com Additionally, Bitcoin mining has evolved from a
simple activity done on a laptop to a complex and very expensive
game done through powerful ASICs (application-specific integrated
circuits). These ASICs are specifically designed to mine crypto
transactions. And as technology changes, miners have to constantly
replace their ASICs with newer, more powerful ones to stay
competitive. Therefore, these single-purpose ASIC chips quickly
become waste. According to the researchers, “The lifespan of
bitcoin mining devices remains limited to just 1.29 years,”
Researchers in Europe and the U.S. also claim that miners have been
dumping tens of thousands of tonnes every year of ASIC rigs and
contributing to the ever-growing environmental challenge. Alex and
Stoll also warn that the e-waste problem will probably grow further
if the price of the cryptocurrency continues to rise since it will
incentivize further investment in and replacement of ASIC hardware.
Related Reading | Why Bitcoin Could Rise To $53K, Here Are The
Risks Bulls Must Overcome If the community were to try to reduce
its e-waste problem, the paper concludes, it would need to replace
the bitcoin mining process in “its entirety with a more sustainable
alternative,” One of those alternatives is “proof of stake” instead
of “proof of work”, as an experimental replacement. “The first
miner who finds a PoW [proof of work] that satisfies predetermined
conditions broadcasts the block to all nodes in the network. The
receiving nodes express their acceptance of the new block by
building on top of it”, the paper explains. Featured image from
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