The Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrencies : From Where We are to Where We Can Move Towards

The interest in the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining is illustrated by the research report published by the US Whitehouse and the banning of Bitcoin mining in China in 2021. This has led to a significant increase in the volume of academic research exploring this topic, in addition to work attempting to consolidate work in the form of multiple narrative as well as systematic literature reviews. However, the actual impact of bitcoin mining on the environment is much more nuances, given i that bitcoin mining uses electricity rather than producing carbon emissions. This work provides a critical review of a recently published piece, so that the model presented within the work can be revised to reflects current practice, rather than past research. This work presents bitcoin mining as a critical practice for both stabilising electrical infrastructure that uses inconsistent renewable sources of electricity, so incentivising its development. The work also provides evidence on how bitcoin mining can be used to reduce environmentally harmful methane emissions, which are a major contributor to global warming