Ethereum Concludes Move To Shave Carbon Emissions By A Dramatic ‘99%’
While cryptocurrency has certainly caught on in the mainstream, environmental activists haven’t been too pleased about its rising popularity. Bitcoin, the largest virtual currency, creates an estimated 40 billion pounds of carbon emissions annually in the United States alone.
However, the tide could soon change as Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, has recently completed a plan that will see its greenhouse gases reduced by a whopping 99%, setting a new standard for the industry.
Dubbed ‘the merge’, the software upgrade will tweak how transactions are performed on the blockchain.
According to The Guardian, this means Ethereum will no longer be generated via “mining,” a term used to refer to the thousands of computers depended on to generate new tokens and validate deals.
And we finalized!
— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) September 15, 2022
Happy merge all. This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Everyone who helped make the merge happen should feel very proud today.
The new process, which is referred to as “proof of work” or “proof of stake,” will see individuals and companies using the cryptocurrency act as validators, pledging their own currency to guarantee newly-created tokens.
The Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute notes that Ethereum’s electricity consumption has reduced from 23 million megawatt-hours per year to just 2,600 megawatt-hours, decreasing carbon dioxide emissions from 11 million tons to 870 tons annually—or the equivalent of the energy used by a hundred homes.
“This is a big moment for the Ethereum ecosystem. Everyone who helped make the merge happen should feel very proud today,” tweeted Vitalik Buterin, founder of the cryptocurrency.
Will Bitcoin and other popular names follow suit in making their cryptocurrencies more eco-friendly? If virtual tokens are here to stay, we certainly hope so.
[via The Guardian and Consensys, cover image via Alekseyrezin | Dreamstime.com]
