The previous decade has seen a rise in cryptocurrencies from comparatively anonymous fringe currencies to eye-catching digital assets capable of trembling the financial industry. There is a growing concern from environmentalists about the impact of crypto on the environment. However, there are some green cryptocurrencies; we have listed them down in terms of their environmental and financial impacts. Before reading this article, let us remind you that we have launched Baxity Store where you can instantly buy Crypto Vouchers for fiat money and redeem it on crypto.
Does Eco-Friendly Cryptocurrency Exist?
The world is marching towards a green alternative, and so should the cryptocurrencies industry. The cryptocurrency industry is already filled with eco-friendly options, which is a good news. More and more cryptocurrencies are now using energy-efficient resources such as solar energy.
As other industries are opting for green resources, cryptocurrencies have not received much attention. It would be wrong to say that no progress has been made, the crypto industry stakeholders have made great progress in making the cryptocurrency industry more eco-friendly. This is an important step because cryptocurrencies are badly affecting the environment due to emission of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere.
What’s the Environmental Impact of Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency requires intense energy to mine. A large amount of energy is consumed due to rigorous mining; it can impact the environment dreadfully. Powering the hardware machines requires a large amount of energy consumption which is quite expensive. For example, 96 million tons of carbon dioxide is released in the atmosphere by the bitcoin mining process which is equal to carbon emission of smaller countries like Morocco.
Why does Mining Require Energy
Cryptocurrency mining is a complex and energy conusimg procedure where powerful computers are required to solve complex mathematical equations in order to produce billion of hashes per second. This procedure consumes a huge amount of electricity.
The Most Green Cryptocurrency To Know About
IOTA (MIOTA)
Transaction cost:
0.00011 kWh per transaction
Price:
0.7741 USD
IOTA has emerged as a truly environmentally-friendly cryptocurrency with substantially low carbon footprints. For transaction confirmation, IOTA uses a system called Tangle, which consumes low energy. Hence, IOTA as compared to other blockchains works more swiftly and with lesser energy consumption. To create a green cryptocurrency marketplace, IOTA partnered with Bosch and Volkswagen as a distributed ledger.
EOSIO (EOS)
Transaction cost:
1.8KWH per block for 24 hours.
Price:
2.48 USD
To generate eco-friendly cryptocurrency EOSIO took a community approach. It is a public blockchain that uses delegated proof of stakes (DPoS) and is based on Graphene technology. The consensus algorithm is used to verify transactions and its pre-mining saves a lot of energy. The low-energy cryptocurrency is produced in the most efficient and fastest way for investors and users. In terms of energy, EOSIO consumes less than 66,000 times energy as compared to bitcoin.
Additionally, EOSIO launched a subsidiary called Bullish Global, creating a blockchain-based cryptocurrency exchange. More than 400 applications are already offered by EOSIO, which is responsible for public blockchain activity across 15 public networks. This also proves that EOSIO is here to be for the long term and it has the potential to be a valuable cryptocurrency.
TRON (TRX)
Transaction cost:
Freezing: 1trx = 29.5473 energy
Burning : 1trx = 3571.429 energy
Freezed bandwidth: 1trx = 1.55204 bandwidth
Price:
0.06329 USD
Having head offices in the megapolitan of San Francisco and Singapore, TRON main aim is to develop an internet structure that is decentralized. Founded in September 2017, It is a nonprofit organization having a parent company called TRON Foundation. Like EOSIO, the pre-mining technique is used by TRON to generate cryptocurrency, which allows application developers to share directly through the TRON platform. Proof of stakes methodology is used by TRON to reduce energy consumption.
TRON had a fair share of leaps and bounds. However, the acquisition of BitTorrent in 2019, proved to be fruitful for the company. Tron can perform 2000 transactions per second easily. Investors can get good output by investing in this environment-friendly cryptocurrency.
STELLAR (XLM)
Transaction cost:
0.00022 KWH per transaction
Price:
0.2141 is USD
The introduction of trustworthy nodes by Stellar to authenticate the transactions made them standout from the cryptocurrencies that use traditional POW or POS techniques. Stellar is a sub branch of Ripple and was founded in 2014. This environmentally friendly cryptocurrency platform is quickly becoming an alternative to Paypal. Moreover, The Stellar foundation annihilates the maintenance and cross platform transaction fees, since it is a non-profit organization funded by public donations.
The Stellar is a distributed tech ledger, which means that on this platform, it is possible to exchange currencies with XLM being used as a facilitator. A benefit of an open-source protocol is that it speeds up the processing time and terminates the requirements of transaction verifications. Many banking institutions in the major countries like the Philippines, Ukraine, India, and France have already started dealing with the Stellar Platform, which makes it a good option for investment.
BITGREEN (BITG)
Transaction cost:
Total energy consumption of 25,754,400 KWH which is 0.06% of bitcoin’s current consumption
Price:
0.06294 USD
BitGreen, founded in 2017, is a non-profit organization that was created in response to Bitcoin and its environmental impact. It uses the proof of work algorithm which is sustainable in terms of energy consumption and BitGreen is a completely community-run project.
Various environmentally friendly incentives are being introduced by BitGreen like the usage of eco-friendly products, carpooling, biking and the usage of sustainable cryptocurrency. It is now possible to spend Bit Green cryptos at various retailer sites that have a partnership with the green cryptocurrency. Moreover, it is possible now to trade BitGreen on exchanges that operate on a point of stakes system.
BitGreen appeared as an alternative option in place of Bitcoin. Although BitGreen has not achieved a status similar to Bitcoin, it has the possibility to become profitable and sustainable in the near future, both financially and environmentally.
FANTOM (FTM)
Transaction cost:
0.00000301 kWh per transaction
Price:
2.38 USD
Fantom has capitalized and outshines the shortcomings of the crypto technologies in their own way. They lower the transaction prices, improve the transaction speed, and even reduce the energy expenditure as compared to other popular cryptocurrencies. More and more investors are getting cautious about whether they are investing in crypto assets that are causing irreversible damage to the environment. Fantom jumped on the opportunity to gain investors’ trust in the fast-growing green cryptocurrency.
SolarCoin (SLR)
Transaction cost:
1 MWh of solar energy produces 1 solar coin
Price:
0.0044 USD
Solarcoin came up with a rather smart alternative by producing one solarcoin production against one megawatt of energy consumed rather than the traditional method of producing value by solving puzzles or performing complex mathematical computations. This encourages the use of green solar power to generate cryptocurrency, having minimum carbon footprints. This way of mining had a huge appraisal among solar power advocates, and eco-friendly enthusiast investors and traders.
SolarCoin has the potential to be a good source of income for those who create significant amounts of electricity through the use of solar panels. Although, the return on investment on Solar Coin cryptocurrency is relatively low and makes it less attractive for high return investors looking to make more money out of eco-friendly cryptocurrency. Solarcoin is developed essentially as a low-energy cryptocurrency giving incentives to those in the solar power industry.
Cardano (ADA)
Transaction cost:
0.5479 KWH per transaction
Price:
1.13 USD
Cardano is a fast-growing green cryptocurrency having one of the minimum energy consumption per transaction. Cardano is among the most eco-friendly cryptocurrency available in the market today. This crypto uses the proof of stake algorithm instead of the traditional proof of work, which remarkably reduces the energy usage and makes sure the greenhouse gas emission remains very low. Some estimates show that Cardano only uses only 0.01 percent of energy for one transaction as compared to the energy used by bitcoin.
Cardano’s popularity increased due to its environmentally friendly stance and made it popular among other sustainable cryptocurrencies, remarkably enhancing its overall outlook. From investors point of view cardano is offering a great mesh of profitability and sustainability for investing in the eco-friendly projects. Being one of the biggest green cryptocurrency platforms,
DogeCoin (DOGE)
Transaction cost:
0.12 KWH per transaction
Price:
0.1352 USD
Originally created as a meme, Dogecoin after its citation by the CEO of Tesla Elon Musk, it became one of the top green crypto alternatives to Bitcoin. The use of proof of work consensus has some drawbacks like reducing the efficiency as compared to other alternatives in the eco-friendly cryptocurrency industry. Elon Musk decided to halt bitcoin payments for Tesla products in May 2021. On the next day, he announced that Tesla will collaborate with Dogecoin to improve energy efficiency and to make it a more sustainable cryptocurrency for investment and transaction purposes.
Dogecoin consumes energy of around 0.12 kWh per transaction, which is still less than most energy-efficient cryptocurrencies available. Now, DogeCoin is set to improve its environmental status and it stands among the top in the low-energy cryptocurrency industry. With Elon Musk and other environmentally friendly investors on their side, Dogecoin has the potential to cement its position at the top of an eco-friendly cryptocurrency.
Ripple (XRP)
Transaction cost:
0.0079 KWH per transaction
Price:
0.8305 USD
Ripple has appeared as an environmentally friendly alternative to many of the bigger cryptocurrencies in the market today. Ripple achieves energy and production efficiency without using the proof of work mechanism. A big goal pledged by Ripple is to go carbon-neutral by 2030, which makes it a viable option among other eco-friendly cryptocurrencies available at the moment. Ripple uses a consensus model that requires every transaction to be approved by a group of trusted validators which as result causes the work and energy reduction required for verification.
Ripple started with one billion coins and has been steadily releasing them over time, which makes it a sustainable and stable addition to the green cryptocurrency world. With just an expense of 0.0079 kWh energy consumed per transaction, Ripple is among one of the topmost energy-efficient cryptocurrencies available in the financial marketplace.
Nano (NANO)
Transaction cost:
0.111 WH per transaction
Price:
2.43 USD
As compared to other cryptocurrencies,Nano consumes the minimum electricity per transaction. By consuming only 0.00012 kWh of electricity per transaction, nano proved to be a great alternative to the Big-two of the crypto market i.e. bitcoin and Ethereum. As far as energy consumption is concerned, nano has introduced a block-lattice technology to make its proof of work mechanism less expensive. With minimal power consumption per transaction and using a decentralized network, nano has become one of the top cryptocurrency that is energy efficient.
Many financial experts and cryptocurrency market analysts have predicted the boom in value for NANO in the upcoming years. The current price right now is fluctuating between 2 to 5 USD and it is expected to increase four times in value or more within this decade. It is a good opportunity for eco-friendly investors and traders to have an energy-efficient and sustainable alternative in the shape of Nano. it can be an excellent choice for now and in the future for investors.
Which Crypto Is The Most Energy Efficient: Comparison Table
| Cryptocurrency | Energy Consumption |
| IOTA | 0.00011 KWH per transaction |
| EOSIO | 1.8 KWH Per block |
| TRON | 0.0009919444 KWH per transaction |
| STELLAR | 0.00022 KWH per transaction |
| BITGREEN | 25,754,400 KWH |
| FANTOM | 0.00000301 kWh per transaction |
| CARDANO | 0.5479 KWH per transaction |
| SOLARCOIN | 1 MWH per solar coin |
| DOGECOIN | 0.12 KWH per transaction |
| RIPPLE | 0.0079 KWH per transaction |
| NANO | 0.000111 KWH per transaction |
What Comes Next
As there are more and more cryptocurrencies being introduced into the market, the increase in energy consumption for their mining and transaction is alarming to the overall environment. Drastic step needs to be taken to make cryptocurrency sustainable for the environment.
Making Crypto More Environmentally Sustainable
Lately, Bitcoin is being labeled as a dirty currency along with other currencies having alarming carbon footprints,a fundamental change is the need of the hour in the crypto industry. Following are some ways of having a sustainable industry.
SUBSTITUTE CONSENSUS MECHANISM:
Now, there are many different alternatives available which are far more efficient than the proof of work consensus that is quite energy consuming.
The global warming is real and in order to become more sustainable, the cryptocurrency industry has to look for eco-friendly alternatives which consume less energy and reduce the amount of greenhouse gasses released in the atmosphere. Following are the mechanism that can be energy-efficient:
- Proof of Stake:
The proof of stake is progressing in the crypto industry which is the second most popular technique used by cryptocurrencies. This mechanism does not require special equipment, which makes it 99 percent energy-efficient than the traditional PoW. This mechanism involves the allocation of authority in segments against the number of tokens held or owned. Cryptocurrencies like EOSIO and Cardano have adopted this mechanism.
- Proof of Capacity:
It is a verification mechanism system that solves mathematical problems and stores hashing solutions utilizing free space on a device’s hard drive. It follows protocols of mining and plotting. The cryptocurrencies that use this mechanism claim it to be 30 times more energy-efficient than the bitcoin mining techniques. Several cryptocurrencies are using this mechanism like chia and burst.
RENEWABLE ENERGY ADOPTION:
Cryptocurrencies are ill-famed for consuming a lot of electric energy and adding almost forty million tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere per year. This fact proves that the crypto industry is emitting a lot of greenhouse gasses. To counter this problem, many crypto miners have now moved to cleaner alternatives for example hydropower, solar, and wind energy.
Accept Crypto Payments With Baxity
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FAQ
Is Crypto Sustainable?
The crypto industry is now moving towards eco-friendly options for its operations. A cryptocurrency can be sustainable if its energy usage is low with a minimal carbon footprint. The transactions do not require a large amount of energy and constant work on reducing the impact on the environment. The following factors should be considered when analyzing whether a cryptocurrency is sustainable or not.
- Eco-friendly initiatives
- Greenhouse effects
- Electricity Consumption
What Is The Most Environmentally Friendly Cryptocurrency?
The most environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies are those which are looking for more green initiatives, lesser emission of greenhouse gasses, and consume less electricity.
Will Crypto Become More Environmentally Friendly In The Future?
It is possible to have an eco-friendly crypto future because institutions like the crypto climate accord are looking and working toward a common goal of having all the cryptocurrencies powered by renewable energy by the year 2025.
