Can Bitcoin Mining Save the Environment? with Troy Cross - WBD463

Location: San Francisco
Date: Tuesday 8th February
Project: Bitcoin Policy Institute
Role: Fellow


On both sides of the Atlantic, politicians and regulators are
questioning the sustainability of Bitcoin mining. These positions
knowingly or unknowingly use narratives and statistics that have
been widely dispelled by authorities within our industry.


Bitcoin is cited as a major contributor to greenhouse gas
emissions, ignoring the detrimental impact of the petrodollar and
other institutionally accepted activities. Bitcoin transactions
are disingenuously portrayed as being incredibly polluting; as
Nic Carter stated “The question of Bitcoin’s energy footprint is
riven with misconceptions.”


Usage of renewable power for Bitcoin mining is portrayed as being
wasteful as though energy use is a zero-sum game, instead of
Bitcoin being a flexible load facilitating increased investment
and energy production.


Satoshi Nakamoto even foresaw energy use as being an issue. In
August 2010 Satoshi posted “The utility of the exchanges made
possible by Bitcoin will far exceed the cost of electricity used.
Therefore, not having Bitcoin is a net waste.”


But, despite the obvious attributes of Bitcoin that mitigates its
impacts, powerful stakeholders still use environmental FUD to
undermine the industry. What if there was a way to explicitly
make Bitcoin mining part of the ESG framework rather than having
ESG weaponised against the industry? Such an idea would kick away
the ladder for Bitcoin mining detractors. Meet Troy Cross.


In this interview, I talk to Troy Cross, a Fellow at the Bitcoin
Policy Institute. We discuss his personal journey of reconciling
Bitcoin’s energy footprint, the environmental FUD used against
Bitcoin, how Bitcoin mining mitigates climate change, and the
game-changing idea to incentivise sustainable Bitcoin mining.