Experts say Bitcoin is more environmentally friendly than the petrodollar

The petrodollar, backed by the U.S. armed forces, threatens the environment more than mining the first cryptocurrency. This was stated by Alex Gladstein, the Human Rights Foundation’s Director of Strategy, and James McGinnis, co-founder of David Energy, on the Unchained podcast.

According to Forbes, in 2017 the U.S. military used up to 1 million barrels of oil per day. Had the Department of Defense been a country, such a level of consumption would place it 55th in the world by CO2 emissions.

Alex Gladstein and James McGinnis described Bitcoin’s energy intensity as a feature that “creates security.”

“From a technical standpoint, this is exactly what makes Bitcoin so fantastic,” said McGinnis.

Alex Gladstein notes that there is a strong moral argument in favor of the first cryptocurrency:

“There are 1.2 billion people living in inflation where the rates are two- and three-digit. There are 4.3 billion people living under authoritarianism. … Let those who say Bitcoin has no social value use the Sudanese pound for a year, and then tell me that Bitcoin’s value is exaggerated or nonexistent.”

A representative of the Human Rights Foundation called digital gold a competitor to the world’s reserve currency. In his view, the asset’s ultimate goal is to replace the petrodollar.

Earlier, Tesla paused selling electric vehicles for Bitcoins due to concerns about the environmental sustainability of mining. A similar view was voiced by Henrik Fisker, CEO of a competing company, excluding investments in cryptocurrency and its support as a payment method.

Alex Gladstein and James McGinnis suggested that Elon Musk’s decision is a reaction to “bad PR” from people who see the mining of digital assets as an environmental threat. In the experts’ view, environmentalists should criticise the businessman and his company for supporting the US dollar, rather than for investing in the first cryptocurrency.

In May 2021, the Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Bitcoin ETF provider Ninepoint Partners announced plans to direct a portion of its management fees toward reducing the carbon footprint.

From June, the mining company Greenidge Generation will begin transferring funds to a portfolio of greenhouse gas reduction projects. The firm also plans to earmark part of its profits to building capacity for renewable energy generation facilities.

As Galaxy Digital analysts noted, Bitcoin miners’ annual energy costs amount to 113.89 TWh, lower than those for gold production and in the banking sector.

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