2021 has been hailed as a breakthrough year for cryptocurrency,
with soaring levels of interest from investors, the media, and the
public. In October, the value of a single Bitcoin (the world's
largest cryptocurrency) reached more than £45,000, a 12,300%
increase on five years ago.
2021 has also been a breakthrough year for environmental
awareness. With COP26 dominating the global news agenda,
institutions now face unprecedented pressure to do business more
sustainably.
Given the serious environmental concerns about cryptocurrency,
are these two trends on a collision course?
The environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining
Environmental concerns relate to two areas. One, as we have
discussed in a previous post, is hardware waste. To
take Bitcoin as an example, superfast processors known as ASICs
(Application Specific Integrated Circuits) are used to mine the
cryptocurrency. They serve one, very specific purpose, and once
they've outlived their usefulness,
