Turning Over A New Leaf: Paypal And Energyweb Introduce Green Incentive Program For Bitcoin Miners

PayPal and EnergyWeb are partnering to create a program that incentivizes bitcoin miners to use low-carbon energy sources in their operations.

PayPal is encouraging bitcoin miners to adopt practices that reduce their environmental impact by offering incentives.

PayPal’s Blockchain Research Group, in collaboration with the non-profit EnergyWeb, has launched a clean energy validation platform to track and reward bitcoin mining operations that are less energy-intensive, according to a PayPal blog post on Monday. This initiative aims to address concerns about the high energy consumption associated with bitcoin mining, which critics say puts significant stress on local electrical grids and taxpayers in the United States.

Bitcoin mining involves solving complex cryptographic puzzles to add new blocks of transactions to a cryptocurrency’s blockchain. The first to solve these puzzles, known as “miners,” receive bitcoins as a reward. This process typically requires substantial computational power and energy consumption.

PayPal’s proposed approach will reward “green” bitcoin miners—those who use low-carbon energy sources in their operations. Mining with reduced carbon emissions helps mitigate the impact of global warming, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Critics are calling for restrictions on bitcoin mining, citing its contribution to air, water, and noise pollution, among other environmental concerns. The mining process consumes an estimated 127 terawatt-hours (TWh) annually—surpassing the energy consumption of Argentina, according to the global energy non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute.

At the same time, an analysis by the New York Times reveals that bitcoin miners collectively consume about seven times the energy that Google uses for its global operations each year.

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