Now I know that Crypto is the next big thing, in fact, it has been the next big thing for years now, whether we were aware of it or not, whether we understood it or not. Crypto has been around for a while now, I think Bitcoin was created in 2009 or 2010? Maybe there were others before that I am not aware of. So, for the past decade or so it has come a long way. I feel like in the past year or so though it has really started to gain traction and attention, especially from celebrities and big companies. It’s a very attractive way to spend, use, earn, and invest money and there is no doubt about that. But I think that we are getting distracted. I have just done some research on the effects of Bitcoin and mining and all that. Knowing very little about it, having just started my own farm with Cub, the environmental effects of crypto were something that I didn’t even think about and for me that’s huge. I consider myself to be an environmentalist, I go through the recycling bin when people don’t recycle the right way (now I know recycling in our country is a mess and mostly ineffective because there is no consistency with it but please check your recycling guidelines in your county!), I’m vegan, for the animals first, but also because factory farming is god awful for the environment and creates so much toxicity in our waters and air, I thrift, you name it. All in the name of taking better care of our home, so when we are investing in things we cannot see and there's no physical entity of it (right? besides all the fake coins people make for feng shui) sometimes we just don’t think about the environmental effects because out of sight out of mind type thing. We are so focused on all the good that Bitcoin can do for us. I think it is very important though to just be aware at least. Hopefully, there is a way to lower the carbon footprint crypto has and hopefully, it becomes something people care about.
I know Elon Musk has a huge influence on Bitcoin, he was all for it and the price went up, said Tesla would use it and bought a lot of it. After months of support, he takes it back saying that Bitcoin uses too much electrical power and most of it comes from dirty energy such as coal from China. Now I know that he has a huge point but I don’t know if he is just messing with the market for fun. I think Elon enjoys having some control over this roller coaster ride. Having said that though, or tweeted it, I don’t think he or Tesla has sold any of his bitcoin? So, I don’t know about you but I’m confused.
https://mashable.com/article/elon-musk-bitcoin-complicated/
Maybe Elon doesn’t know, maybe he knows a lot, maybe he just enjoys all the influence, who knows. One thing is for sure though is that crypto is not perfect. Not only does it take a huge amount of energy, and I mean HUGE, uses fossil fuels that we know are horrible for the environment, melting the artic and killing all the polar bears, but it is also creating a ton of E-waste. Bitcoin and many others are huge contributors to carbon dioxide emissions. I am not trying to knock crypto, because I definitely just bought more the other day in the dip, but I think it is super important to be aware. I’m not sure how just being aware of it will help though. How do find that balance between investing and doing the right thing? Is it still true that we only have like 11 years before there’s nothing, we can to stop the negative effects of climate change? It’s terrifying. If the climate is dramatically changing will all of this even matter? I struggle with this because I want to believe that everything will be okay and that the world is abundant and beautiful but I also want to make sure I am doing my part in contributing as little as possible to climate change and pain and suffering. I would love to hear others' thoughts on this as well. When it comes to investing in stocks, I only invest in companies that aren’t contributing to the funding of fossil fuels, to the best of my knowledge at least. I also know that people are working on this issue when it comes to crypto, I’m just worried that they won’t be able to solve it fast enough. Another reason I struggle with this is that investing in crypto is one way to earn money, and then I can use that money to help find solutions but it’s almost a trap because crypto, the very thing that I want to invest in, is the very thing that needs a solution! Also, are there any cryptocurrencies that contribute the least amount to climate change? Are there any that don't use so much energy?
I did read/use this article that inspired this post https://www.investopedia.com/tech/whats-environmental-impact-cryptocurrency/