In his monthly crypto tech column, Israeli serial entrepreneur Ariel Shapira covers emerging technologies within the crypto, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain space, as well as their roles in shaping the economy of the 21st century. The post-mortem consensus on the crypto market crash among industry leaders ranging from Polygon co-founder Mihailo Bjelic to billionaire crypto investor Mark Cuban is that bear markets are a healthy way of cleansing the market. The latter even referred to a line used by long-time crypto critic Warren Buffet to express his opinion of the matter. “Only when the tide goes out do you …

The ever-raging debate around Bitcoin’s energy consumption has been re-ignited, with founding member of Ethereum Anthony Donofrio claiming that Bitcoin is using “way too much” energy. According to figures from Digiconomist, Bitcoin (BTC) currently uses 0.82% of the world’s power while Ethereum (ETH) uses 0.34%. Ethereum researcher Justin Drake posted the figures to his 56,000 followers that Donofrio retweeted, stating: If bitcoin is really using nearly 1% of the energy on earth that is way too much for a pet rock. https://t.co/CDL32jk5FF — Texture, PhD (@iamtexture) June 9, 2022 Ethereum proponents are attempting to take shots at Bitcoin while simultaneously …

NFTs have taken pop culture by storm over the past year. On a nearly daily basis, a new celebrity announces their interest in the emerging technology — usually by dropping an NFT collection. From Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction NFTs to Snoop Dogg’s NFT music label, a wide range of notable names are beginning to realize the creative value that NFTs offer. While celebrity involvement has played a key role in raising mainstream awareness about the array of NFT use cases and investment potential, it has also drawn the ire of some fans. In the midst of the hype surrounding the …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining companies are further adopting green energy as the global Bitcoin mining industry increased its sustainable energy mix by approximately 59% year over year. The Bitcoin Mining Council (BMC) is a group of 44 Bitcoin mining companies claiming to represent 50% of the global Bitcoin network, or 100.9 exahash (EH). It released a new report on Monday with the findings. The group is also fronted by Bitcoin proponent and MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor. The latest survey of BMC member companies questioned how much electricity their companies consumed, what percentage of that electricity is generated by hydro, wind, solar, …

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland catalyzed a commitment to carbon neutrality, achieving net-zero carbon emissions, requiring reducing emissions as much as possible, and balancing the remaining emissions with the purchase of carbon credits. A carbon credit reduces, avoids or removes carbon emissions in one place to compensate for unavoidable emissions somewhere else through certified green-energy projects. Carbon credits represent one ton in carbon emission reduction. They are 1) Avoidance or reduction projects — e.g., renewable energy (wind, solar, hydro, biogas) — and 2) Removal or sequestration — e.g., reforestation and direct carbon capture, …

Earth Day, a 52-year-old tradition celebrated annually on April 22, provides an opportune moment for the world’s citizens to reflect upon their environmental progress, as well as rally support for political policy-making, cultural climate awareness and individual commitments to sustainability. The emergence of blockchain and Web3 has provided the core architecture for a structural remodeling in public transparency, and as such, a technology that has the potential to be harnessed in service of the visions established by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Accord. Cointelegraph spoke to a number of environmental experts to gauge their opinions …

The Polygon network announced on Tuesday its commitment to going carbon neutral and climate positive this year by releasing their “Green Manifesto: A Smart Contract with Planet Earth.” They also made a $20 million pledge to offset their carbon footprints, and buy extra credits to eventually become carbon negative. #PolygonGoesGreen Unveiling the Green Manifesto - a smart contract with Planet Earth!https://t.co/p9DFtUG9XP [1/2] pic.twitter.com/Xgn8jubffa — Polygon (@0xPolygon) April 12, 2022 Part of the Ethereum scaling solution's plan for a more sustainable future includes providing resources for ecosystem partners who also want to offset their carbon footprint. Additionally, they hope to facilitate …

The United Nations Climate Change Conference of November 2021, known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland urged the world to commit to curbing contributions to carbon emissions. Achieving a net-zero world in less than 30 years is causing many to turn to blockchain technology, buy carbon offsets, and spark renewed interest in carbon capture. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has identified transparency, clean energy, carbon markets and climate finance as areas where blockchain technology can accelerate climate action. At the 2017 Paris Summit, the UN Climate Change Secretariat joined a multi-stakeholder group of organizations to establish an open global initiative, …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining in Norway is 100% renewable and “flourishing” according to a report by Arcane Research. “A green oasis of renewable energy,” Norway contributes almost 1% to the global hash rate and is almost entirely powered by hydropower. The report compiled data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index and data from Coinshares to conclude that Norway contributes 0.77% to the Bitcoin total global hashrate. By way of comparison, Norway’s population of 5 million contributes a tenth of that–or 0.07% of the global population. Crucially, according to the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE), Norway’s electricity mix is …

Next time someone tries to poo-poo the renewable credentials of Bitcoin (BTC) mining, remember AmityAge Mining Farm. Founded by Gabriel Kozak and Dušan Matuska, the Bitcoin mining facility uses human and animal waste to generate electricity for mining. Matuska, the man “who met Satoshi Nakomoto”, told Cointelegraph that “methane from biodegradation processes runs our machines.” As human and animal waste isn’t running out any time soon, their BTC mining process is both environmentally friendly and renewable. According to Matuska, using renewable energies such as biogas “shows that we can really accelerate the adoption of these renewables and make their return …

Last week, Bitcoin (BTC) dodged a regulatory bullet in the European Union when proposed cryptocurrency legislation was altered to not include a ban on proof-of-work- (PoW)-based crypto assets. Policymakers had raised a number of concerns about the relative anonymity of crypto transactions and their environmental impact. Some experts including Tim Frost, founder and CEO of Yield App, believe that the “climate change” angle reflects a hidden attempt to ban Bitcoin. But, why? The proposed EU regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) can be seen as a hybrid approach, which sometimes treats crypto assets as securities and at other times …

Bitcoin (BTC) mining generates a lot of “waste” heat. As energy prices spiral out of control in Europe, miners have come up with creative ways of recycling the heat generated by solving valid Bitcoin blocks. Whereas in Norway, a miner is drying wood from the local timber mill, across the North Sea in the Netherlands, a miner is heating greenhouses to grow produce and bloom “Bitcoin flowers.” In a win-win partnership between a Dutch farmer and a Bitcoin miner, Bitcoin Bloem mines Bitcoin and bud flowers in greenhouses in the province of North Braband, southeast of Rotterdam. It works like …