are cryptocurrencies green? [Vídeo]

Centralized green cryptocurrency exchanges cover image PrimeXBT

Cryptocurrencies are, without a doubt, one of the most controversial topics in new technologies. And not only because of the possibility of pyramid scams, theft or their real usefulness…but also because they have been pointed out as something harmful to the environment. In today’s video, we tell you whether cryptocurrencies are environmentally friendly or not.

First of all, it must be understood that any digital activity consumes energyand even more so if it is online. Whether it is using Twitter, Instagram or any social network, shopping on Amazon or playing LoL, the associated energy cost of all the equipment that sustains these activities is not small, especially when they are on a large scale.

Whether or not a cryptocurrency requires a lot of electrical power has to do with the verification protocols used by its blockchain networks

And this is exactly what happens with cryptocurrencies. Being so widespread and relying on the thousands of computers that make up each of the blockchain networks, cryptocurrencies consume energy by the mere fact of their existence. However, a factor of a particular type of cryptocurrency is that, in effect, some of them require an enormous amount of energy.

These types of cryptocurrencies are those that use a proof-of-work (PoW) protocol, which means that in order to exist, they require a large number of teams trying to solve cryptographic problems. Roughly speaking, this is known as mining, which we told you about in this other video.

This process demands enormous amounts of processing power, often obtained through the massive use of graphics cards, which has led to cryptos in general being seen as large power demanders.

However, not all cryptocurrencies have a PoW protocol, although some of the most important ones, such as Bitcoin use this protocol. Many others, such as Ethereum as of a couple of days ago (before that, ETH was a PoW coin) use a proof-of-stake (PoS) protocol that consumes much less energy.

The fact that Ethereum has abandoned the PoW protocol in favor of a PoS one, combined with all the newly created cryptos that are born directly with PoS, makes the future of cryptos to be much greener than it was years ago.

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