The growth of Bitcoin, and its Proof-of-Work (PoW) system that uses digital “mining” to validate transactions and secure data, relies on financial support from large banks and asset managers.2 Despite the guise of Bitcoin being independent from the mainstream financial system, the industry is deeply connected to traditional finance for Bitcoin mining companies to access capital and to enable tradi. [...] For example, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, was the third largest investor in Bitcoin mining companies in 2022 and recently launched an investment fund, called an Exchange Traded Product (ETP), tied to the price of Bitcoin that has garnered billions of dollars and led to a spike in the price of Bitcoin.3 1 Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the Judge Business School, Univer. [...] Thus, we sought a consistent way to compare the emissions between companies and estimate the consequential emissions of adding this new load to the grid, not just the attributional emissions for a mining facility. [...] It's time for the energy-intensive Bitcoin mining industry to come out of the shadows and follow the broader business community, including other energy and carbon-intensive industries, on sustainability reporting and setting scientific and measurable climate targets. [...] The EIA proposed an emergency survey of Bitcoin miners in January 2024 that was later rescinded in response to industry backlash and lawsuits.76 The EIA should re-submit that survey to the Federal Register and open the proposal to the regular public input process.
Authors
Related Organizations
- Pages
- 42
- Published in
- Netherlands
Table of Contents
- Introduction 3
- Bitcoins Climate and Transparency Problems 3
- Estimating Bitcoin Carbon Emissions and Investments 3
- Financing Bitcoins Climate Damage 3
- Polluting Bitcoin Mining Companies 3
- Recommendations to Clean-up Bitcoin 3
- Appendix 1 Methods and Data 3
- Appendix 2 Additional Figures Data and Estimates 3
- Introduction 4
- Bitcoins Climate and Transparency Problems 6
- Estimating Bitcoin Carbon Emissions and Investments 11
- Financing Bitcoins Climate Damage 14
- Top Investors and Creditors in Bitcoin Mining 16
- Contradicting Corporate Climate Commitments 19
- Polluting Bitcoin Mining Companies 22
- Recommendations to Clean-up Bitcoin 27
- Reporting and Disclosure 27
- Make Miners Pay Their Fair Share 30
- Code Change to Eliminate Bitcoins Proof-of-Work Pollution 31
- Appendix 1 Methods and Data 33
- Financial Research 33
- Estimating Emissions by Mining Companies 34
- Assigning Financial and Facilitated Emissions 36
- Appendix 2 Additional Figures Data and Estimates 38
