The Bitcoin digital currency is set to celebrate its’ 10th year come October 31st but experts still claim that betting on the future of Bitcoin is still a huge risk and gamble. With a large number of digital currencies available in today’s market, Bitcoin is one among many other projects that could stop the development of the blockchain’s future. The crypto market has become increasingly challenging to predict, not knowing which cryptocurrency will dominate the market in the future.
Analysis of this year’s Bitcoin performance has seen the popular cryptocurrency tumble downwards with a fall of two-thirds over a couple of months. This price fall has made the Bitcoin’s future unpredictable and sits top of the list of high-risk investments. The lack of a centralized body governing and the ease in transactions of cryptocurrency attracted investors from all sides.
Where is The Risk?
Taking recent events into account, investors are gradually pulling away from the Cryptocurrency scene because of the steady rise in costs of transactions and the instability of the Bitcoin. These are also accompanied by the lack of acceptance as a mode of the transaction which could impact the Bitcoin’s future greatly.
But it is not all dark clouds and thunder for the Bitcoin. The Bitcoin has gained traction in Japan where the local government exacted some digital currency rules in 2017 but the country still held on to the highest Bitcoin trading volume.
This increased use of the Bitcoin in Japan gives a glimmer of hope for investors as they hope more countries will follow Tokyo’s footsteps and accept Bitcoins as a mode of transaction.
Bitcoin Could Destroy the Planet According to Climate Scientists
One thing is certain, Bitcoin has its supporters and detractors.
From those that feel like it is the future of commercial transactions to those who think it is nothing more than a complicated Internet-based scheme, Bitcoin certainly attracts almost as much attention as it does varied opinions about its future.
One group weighing in on that future, for better or worse, are climate scientists who think that widespread adoption of Bitcoin could push the Earth’s climate over the brink, leading to catastrophe.
In essence, Bitcoin could destroy the planet according to research conducted by Camilo Mora and her team which was recently published in the academic journal Nature Climate Change.
Specifically, the team looked at how the widespread adoption of technology like Bitcoin could increase server footprint and power consumption and thus lead to an increase in overall average global temperatures.
Given that lowering the emissions output of already existing industries is a tough order, the research team looked at the increase in power consumption caused by widespread use of Bitcoin and concluded that it could possibly increase power usage so much that it would push the planet beyond the tipping point.
As Motherboard points out, the team’s findings show a two degree Celsius jump in temperature by 2033, with a recent UN report pegging 1.5 degrees as a tipping point for the global climate.
A couple of critiques about the study have posited that it assumes the source of power generation will not change to one that is emissions free as well as assuming that technological optimization won’t lessen the power usage of blockchain technologies and the servers that power it. Further, the study assumes a “linear” progression of power usage which discounts widespread advancements in energy efficiency and assumes things stay as they currently are.
But the study did point out that, even with huge advances in power generation, it is expected that well over half to approximately 65% of the power generated in the world will be coming from fossil fuel sources in 2040 according to a statistic cited by Forbes.
As the research team notes, this does not preclude advancement in power generation, but it seems likely it won’t be enough by itself to prevent Bitcoin’s negative impact on the environment. That would place the burden for optimization on the technological and server side of things.
The main reason for the huge amount of energy consumed is that Bitcoin miners or those people who run servers that crunch algorithms in search of the electronic signatures of Bitcoin not yet in circulation. As part of its decentralized nature, mining Bitcoin is a huge part of the whole platform and, as such, consumes a ton of power.
The study seems to theorize that mining data has as much or more of a destructive impact on the environment than mining the Earth itself.
Though somewhat alarmist in its conclusions, the research does not discount the benefits of cryptocurrency nor does it particularly have a problem with Bitcoin per se. Rather, the study hopes to generate dialogue about the energy consumption surrounding Bitcoin and what we as a society can do to accommodate blockchain technology if or as it becomes more widespread.
On the price of Bitcoin, Bitcoin’s future will shine with hope when it is finally accepted as an official currency by retailers and the online markets. In relation, the market value of the Bitcoin is destined to go through the roof if the real-world usage of the Bitcoin rises.
