Maybe you do or don’t remember when we discussed last year about the climate cost of cryptocurrency. Well, crypto-player Ethereum is about to change the game, for the cleaner and greener.
If you know absolutely nothing about crypto, we recommend taking a stroll down this Axios article to see what it’s really about. Disclaimer: we are not telling you to spend or use monies you don’t have, but we agree this is a good way to learn.
If you don’t want to play the market, suffice it to say that crypto is based off of blockchain and that blockchain is basically a public, digital ledger that says, "Elon paid Bezos and this is how much and this is when." And a bunch of computers smile and nod in agreement. (Note: SUPER simplified). In order to make it so these transfers are highly secure and reliable, they are purposely made incredibly energy intensive. Like, crypto-as-an-industry-used-as-much-power-as-Venezuela intensive. (Source: Bitcoin Mining Just Got Easier. Here's Why It Is Important To Mind The Environmental Cost)
So, how is Ethereum going green? Ethereum is undergoing "The Merge". Rather than using power intensive validation, “Ethereum will use a proof-of-stake mechanism, which eliminates crypto mining and requires ‘validators’ to stake their own cryptocurrency for a chance to verify a transaction in exchange for a reward.” (Forbes) Basically, which used to cost massive amounts of energy can now be done on a basic, albeit powerful, computer. But should still be just as secure and verifiable as other crypto transactions.
The take home: Ethereum is slated to cut its energy consumption by about 99.9%. And some crypto-nanciers think that most other players—think Bitcoin—are unlikely to follow suit. (Listen: Axios Today, below)
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