The digital currency, Ethereum, has completed the long-awaited, energy-saving scheme called “Merge.” Just before midnight on Wednesday, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency dropped its energy requirement by a whooping 99%, thereby adopting a proof of stake.
Therefore, the minting of ether cryptocurrency tokens through the use of intensive electricity is a thing of the past. A process that took eight years to complete.
Ethereum has gone green in an age where many believe one of society’s top concerns is climate change. Ethereum has successfully unhinged from emitting provocative amounts of carbon into the society.
What they are saying
According to Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, the “proof of stake” achieved by the company is the “first step in ethereum’s big journey toward being a very mature system.” He added that there is more work ahead.
Why this matter
Mining cryptocurrency is an intensive process that requires a power computer or mining rig, as it is popularly called to solve complex cryptographic puzzles. This mining process is highly competitive as hundreds of thousands of miners around the world battle the same puzzle. For each new data added to the blockchain there is a 6.25 bitcoin ($129,000) for bitcoin miners and 2 ether ($2,400) plus gas for ethereum miners.
- The more complex the cryptographic puzzles are to solve, the more miners compete to solve them, with energy expenditure rising.
- Ethereum’s merge cuts the emission of these energy requirements.
What you should
Bitcoin mining consumes about 150 terawatt hours a year, which is more than the electricity usage of the 45 million people in Argentina. Ethereum with 62 million terawatt hours is close to the electricity usage of the 9 million people in Switzerland.
Although most of this electricity comes from renewable sources, their carbon footprint is massive. Ethereum emits as much carbon dioxide as Denmark or Chile.