Top 5: Cryptocurrencies that pollute the environment the most

Cryptocurrencies offer many benefits – they are decentralized, they allow fast cross-border transactions – but they are also controversial, especially because of the negative impact they have on the environment. For example, a single transaction in the Ethereum blockcain consumes more energy than 100,000 transactions in the VISA network.

But by far the biggest impact on the environment is Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency. At the moment, the activity of mining the virtual currency consumes as much energy, in a year, as Sweden. Consumption could match that of Japan, the world’s third-largest economy, in just five years if no action is taken.

Here are the five cryptocurrencies that have the biggest negative impact on the environment right now:

1. Bitcoin
2. Ethereum
3. Bitcoin Cash
4. Litecoin
5. Cardano

The Bitcoin ecosystem produced 59.9 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2020. To remove all this CO2 from the atmosphere, it would be necessary to plant almost 300 million trees, Forbes reports.

There is hope for cryptocurrencies. Ethereum turns green

As for Ethereum, things will change for the better. This year, the ecosystem will move to a new transaction verification system called Proof-of-Stake (PoS), which will make blockchain mining unnecessary and reduce pollutant emissions by up to 99%.

“I am very happy that one of the biggest problems of the blockchain (us – high power consumption) will disappear when the Proof-of-Stake method is completed,” said Vitalik Buterin, father of Ethereum.

An investor and several organizations are also pressuring the Bitcoin community to switch to the PoS protocol as well. The “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign, supported by billionaire Chris Larsen, Greenpeace and the Environmental Working Group, is being promoted through advertisements in top publications.