Bitcoin could theoretically put Paris climate goals out of reach

There are currently about 30 million Bitcoin wallet users, according to Blockchain.com, about 10 million more than last December.

If Bitcoin were to become a true global transactional currency, the electricity needed to mine it alone would generate enough carbon dioxide to push the planet beyond 2°C of warming within a quarter-century.

The creation of new bitcoin requires immense computational effort, and therefore enormous amounts of energy. “If this takes off it will be something that we will not be able to control” said Camilo Mora, associate professor at the University of Hawaii and lead author of the analysis published this week in Nature Climate Change.