Greenpeace, an environmental defense organization, has criticized the recent approval of several spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) products, stating that it constituted a “watershed moment” in the embrace of the financial services industry on Bitcoin-produced pollution. The organization believes that the endorsement of Blackrock, Fidelity, and other financial companies of a Bitcoin ETF should take them to play an active role in solving its carbon emission problems.
Greenpeace: Bitcoin ETF Institutions Should Help Solve Its Pollution Problems
Greenpeace, an organization that exposes global environmental problems, has rejected the approval of the recent group of spot bitcoin ETF products by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Rolf Skar, National Campaigns Director at Greenpeace USA, stated that this move would make it easier to bet on bitcoin, an asset that they consider to have a polluting problem.
Parodying several media reports on the subject, Skar stated:
The approval of the Bitcoin ETFs is a watershed moment in the financial services industry’s embrace of polluting Bitcoin … this presents serious challenges for our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and avert the worst consequences of the climate crisis.
Furthermore, Skar stressed that this kind of product will make bitcoin’s price go up due to a demand that wasn’t there before. He explained that as bitcoin rises, the impact of its action grows stronger as this causes more miners to join the hunt for the rewards obtained after mining a Bitcoin block.
Skar added that the power used to complete these tasks is predominantly generated by fossil fuels, which leads to higher carbon emissions and water use. “SEC’s approval of a Bitcoin ETF is a win for executives at big Wall Street companies but a loss for the climate and society,” he concluded.
Greenpeace stopped accepting bitcoin donations due to its environmental impact in 2021 and has advocated for altering Bitcoin’s code. This would involve changing Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, reducing the amount of energy needed to operate and secure the network.
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