Last week we wrote about a remarkable work of art that the environmental organization Greenpeace brought into the world: The Bitcoin Skull. The artwork is part of the organization’s “Change the Code, not the Climate” campaign. The Bitcoin Skull represents the devastating effect that Bitcoin mining has on the climate according to Greenpeace. It seems that Greenpeace’s strategy is not working out well.
Artist behind artwork backs down
Greenpeace wants to achieve a transition to proof-of-stake for the Bitcoin (BTC) network with the artwork. However, the organization was put in place by the bitcoin community. Bitcoin is not at all as polluting as they think. In the meantime, even the artist behind the artwork has changed his mind, and the artwork can be called a gigantic flop.
I made the Skull believe that Bitcoin Mining was a simple black and white issue. I’ve spent my entire career trying to reduce real-world physical waste, and PoW felt intuitively wasteful.
Of course, I was wrong.
Few things in the world are black and white. Dumb me. /4
— Von Wong (@thevonwong) March 25, 2023
“I created the skull because I believed Bitcoin mining is a simple black and white problem. All my career I’ve been trying to reduce physical waste, and proof-of-work felt so polluting. Of course I was wrong. Few things in the world are black and white. Stupid of me.”
According to the artist behind the Bitcoin Skull, Von Wong, who changed his mind after interactions with the bitcoin community, and no longer seems to support Greenpeace’s campaign.
What is Greenpeace doing?
The question now is whether Greenpeace itself will change its mind. The facts do not seem to lie. Bitcoin is gradually becoming less dependent on fossil fuels.
Interesting fact: Bitcoin mining is the only major global industry whose main source of energy is not fossil fuel. The primary energy source of the global electricity grid is coal (36.7%).”
According to Bitcoin proponent and climate activist Daniel Batten. He did an investigation to the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining, where he also included off-grid mining in the data. He found that hydropower is currently the largest source of energy for the Bitcoin mining industry, closely followed by coal and gas.
Although fossil fuels still represent a large part of energy consumption, Bitcoin mining is now about 60 percent sustainable. In addition, the sustainability of the industry has increased by 6.7 percent every year since 2020.
Moral of the story: the Bitcoin mining industry is, compared to other global industries, the most sustainable. In addition, there is a strong trend towards further sustainability. Perhaps Greenpeace should take a closer look at another industry.