Bitcoin mining is infamous for its notorious energy consumption, and now it is facing fresh criticism over its environmental impact. Some climate activists, including Greenpeace and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, have launched the “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign to turn Bitcoin into an eco-friendly cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin mining uses a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model that requires high computational power and more energy to verify the transaction than the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus, which is less harmful to the environment. Bitcoin mining alone consumes as much energy as the entire country of Switzerland does every year. Therefore, PoW is considered environmentally hazardous.
The $5 million campaign wants Bitcoin miners and industry leaders like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey to switch from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model to a proof-of-stake (PoS) saying:
“If only 30 people — the key miners, exchanges and core developers who build and contribute to Bitcoin’s code — agreed to reinvent proof-of-work mining or move to a low-energy protocol, Bitcoin would stop polluting the planet.”
It is interesting to note that Greenpeace accepted Bitcoin donations between 2014 and May 2021 before deciding to discontinue accepting Bitcoin donations due to environmental concerns. Around the same time, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that he would cease to accept Bitcoin payments for Tesla vehicles.
Though “Change the Code, Not the Climate” aims to develop an eco-friendly Bitcoin, the Bitcoin community is unhappy with the campaign since it targets Bitcoin specifically. Crypto expert Nic Carter responded on Twitter with a thumbs-down meme, writing: “As a Bitcoin Node Operator and member of the Bitcoin High Priesthood that Controls the Protocol, I have duly considered Ripple’s and Greenpeace’s request to eliminate PoW from Bitcoin, and I hereby… deny it.”
The campaign seems to be a big fan of proof-of-stake and Ethereum — which is planning to switch to a PoS model soon this year.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Larsen said, “Now with Ethereum changing, Bitcoin really is the outlier.”
“Some of the newer protocols, Solana and Cardano, are built on low energy,” he added.
Even though Larsen denied that the “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign is anti-Bitcoin, the campaign’s chances of success seem slim. This is because the Bitcoin community has rejected all changes to the system designed by Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous inventor of Bitcoin. Bitcoin maxis say that they don’t want to compromise the security and verification process of the top cryptocurrency. Rather than changing the PoW consensus model, they are more inclined to advocate green energy mining by using non-conventional forms of energy such as geothermal mining.