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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Technology
Alex Hern UK technology editor

Bitcoin climate impact greater than gold mining, study shows

Representations of bitcoin and sterling banknotes
Bitcoin’s disproportionate harm to the climate comes from its reliance on a computing process to verify transactions. Photograph: Dado Ruvić/Reuters

Bitcoin is less “digital gold” and more “digital beef”, according to a study that suggests the cryptocurrency has a climate impact greater than that of gold mining and on the level of natural gas extraction or rearing cattle for meat.

The research from the University of New Mexico, published in the journal Scientific Reports, assessed the climate cost of various commodities as a portion of their overall market cap.

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