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We Bought a Tree with Bitcoin

Date:

McKlayne Marshall

A true story with some additional thoughts on the future of cryptocurrency.

Photo by Johann Siemens on Unsplash

My wife and I made our first purchase of Bitcoin on September 1st, 2020 when Bitcoin was at $12,066.22. We sold on May 12th, 2021 at $51,660.75 a few minutes after Elon Musk tweeted the following.

Elon Musk on Twitter: “Tesla & Bitcoin https://t.co/YSswJmVZhP” / Twitter

Ironically, we were planning on using the gains from the sale of our Bitcoin to go towards a large tree in our front yard. We were able to purchase and have the tree delivered all from our gains.

We started thinking about whether or not that one tree would offset the carbon emissions related to our transaction(s) of buying and selling Bitcoin in the last year. So, here are a few stats from our research.

  1. It would take 15 trees one whole year to capture the carbon emissions of a 0.001 Bitcoin transfer. [1]
  2. A single Bitcoin transfer has a carbon footprint of 1499lbs of CO2 [2]
  3. A mature tree captures 48lbs of CO2 a year [3]

So, I would say that we are 1/15 of the way there if we truly wanted to offset our Bitcoin transfer that enabled us to purchase our tree.

Our current carbon offset with our one tree planted

Another example, and one that sheds more light on why Tesla and Elon Musk “pulled the plug” on Bitcoin. Currently, a Tesla saves around 600lbs of C02 a year. [4]. Seeing that the price of a Tesla is relatively close to one Bitcoin (May 29th, 2021), a full transfer would be made and have a carbon footprint of 1499lbs of C02. So, by purchasing your Tesla with Bitcoin you cause an extra 899lbs of C02 to be emitted within the year. You wouldn’t breakeven for 2.5 years of owning the Tesla.

Tesla carbon offset when purchasing with Bitcoin

The numbers are concerning. The massive amounts of energy that are needed per transaction for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is confusing, but as cryptocurrencies become more popular, there is a greater demand and incentive for miners. Those miners are scattered all across the globe, with 65% of Bitcoin mining occurring in China. [5]

I think cryptocurrencies are here to stay. I love the concept of having a decentralized currency. It is the way of the future. With that being said, I think that some major consideration needs to go into the decentralized infrastructure of the currency and who should be allowed to mine the currency. (i.e. on solar or wind generated electricity.) Below is a list of some of the more environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies. [6]

List of environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies

It might also be really cool for exchanges such as Coinbase, Robinhood, Binance, etc. to include an environmental score next to each of the cryptocurrencies. These digital tools mask the behind-the-scenes of what is really required to transact with cryptocurrencies.

All-in-all, we love our tree and we love that we were able to purchase it from investing in a decentralized currency. We just believe that the future is green and that means crypto as well.

[1] For cryptocurrency owners and enthusiasts — ImpactScope

[2] Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index — Digiconomist

[3] All About Trees — Keystone 10 Million Trees Partnership (tenmilliontrees.org)

[4] Tesla Drivers Have Saved Over 340 Million Pounds CO2 | Plugless Power

[5] Major China bitcoin mining hub lays out harsher crackdown measures (cnbc.com)

[6] Which cryptocurrency
is the most environmentally friendly? (trgdatacenters.com
)

Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://medium.com/geekculture/we-bought-a-tree-with-bitcoin-98d37dc18040?source=rss——-8—————–cryptocurrency

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