A recent survey revealed that the majority of the UK residents would not support their government if it imposed a crackdown on bitcoin due to environmental reasons. Somewhat expectedly, the elderly were bigger proponents of the move.
Not The Best Idea
The first ten months of 2021 have been another turbulent period for bitcoin. The primary cryptocurrency hit an all-time high price of nearly $65,000 in April but then plunged in the next several months to as low as $29K in July. Institutional adoption, the launch of the first bitcoin ETF in the USA, and many other factors, though, drove it back to a new top of roughly $67,000.
While many describe the asset as a great hedge against the rising inflation and even superior to gold, the way it is mined still causes environmental concerns as the process uses vast amounts of energy.
Bitcoin mining accounts for 0.46% of the entire world’s electricity consumption, according to some reports, which is more than what the country of the Philippines consumes per year.
Nonetheless, banning bitcoin would not make the planet greener. At least, that is what 55% of the Britons think. As in previous similar polls, YouGov’s one revealed that the percentage varies within the different age groups.
For example, only 21% of those under 24 years old would back up the authorities if they implemented a total bitcoin ban. On the contrary, 64% of the elderly – people above 65 years old – would say “yes” to that idea.
Men were more likely to oppose such a ban than females. It is worth noting that males are much more involved in the digital asset space than females, which might explain their stance.
BTC Mining Could Be Beneficial
Instead of banning bitcoin mining, the authorities of the Canadian town North Vancouver, part of the district of British Columbia, decided to employ the released energy into heating residential and commercial buildings.
The initiative should go live in 2022 after a partnership between the cryptocurrency miner – MintGreen – and the Lonsdale Energy Corporation (LEC). During its engagement, the latter asserted that its “Digital Boilers” will prevent 20,000 tonnes of GHGs from entering the atmosphere per MW compared to natural gas.
If successful, North Vancouver will become the first city that employs BTC mining in this way.
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