European Central Bank considers cryptocurrency a threat to sustainable development of the Earth

13.05.2021 |

A board member of the European Central Bank, Fabio Panetta, said that cryptocurrency mining can harm the UN-approved global sustainable development plans for the world. The main danger, according to the official, lies in the field of ecology — the use of non-renewable energy sources in mining and maintaining the performance of digital assets can significantly slow down efforts to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Although only a quarter of all miners use dirty electricity for their activities, most continue to see bitcoin as a factor in environmental degradation. Panetta, for example, compares the work of digital gold miners to the consumption of some countries — according to the information he has, the entire bitcoin network consumes more than the Netherlands in annual terms.

This does not take into account the specifics of the location of cryptocurrency mining installations. Most companies set up their sites near those places where “green” energy is developed, the surplus of which, due to the specifics of production, is bought up by miners at a cheap price.