Since the concern about the effects of Bitcoin on the environment in recent months has increased, more and more efforts have been made worldwide to reduce the CO2 footprint and the effects of cryptocurrencies on the climate. For this reason, more and more investors are investing specifically in environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies.
Because while traditional cryptocurrencies consume a lot of computing power, there are now environmentally friendly Bitcoin alternatives. Many of these sustainable cryptocurrencies use the proof-of-stake (POS) model instead of the proof-of-work (POW) model.
Since environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies are gaining more and more popularity, we have set ourselves the task of finding and comparing the best environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies in this article to help investors decide which environmentally friendly cryptocurrency they should invest in.
What are environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies?
When looking for the best energy-efficient cryptocurrency, investors should ensure that the development team uses sustainability at the top of their list of priorities. Projects for which this is the case often use leading technologies to reduce their energy requirements or even to fully compensate for their CO2 footprint.
In order to examine the energy efficiency of a cryptocurrency, you have to see how it records and is validated in its blocks. Because to minimize the CO2 emissions associated with the mining of cryptocurrencies, alternative, sustainable cryptocurrencies were created that use less energy-intensive methods. These methods are often associated with a smaller CO2 footprint and therefore more environmentally friendly than traditional cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Green cryptocurrencies are therefore based on new validation mechanisms that significantly reduce the CO2 footprint of blockchain technology. However, many of these aspects can also be applied to existing, environmentally harmful cryptocurrencies in order to create more sustainable solutions. Ethereum recently reduced its energy consumption by 99.5 % by switching to a proof-of-stake (POS) consensus mechanism.
Environmental-friendly cryptocurrencies
If you consider investing in green cryptocurrencies, it is important to weigh the potential risks and opportunities.
In the following, we, therefore, analyze some of the most popular green cryptocurrencies that focus on sustainability and give our recommendations for the best environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies.
1. IMPT (IMPT)
At the top of our list of the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies is the carbon certificate ecosystem IMPT.IO. IMPT is one of the most discussed environmentally friendly projects of the year due to the innovative approach of the platform for trading emission credits. With the help of the polygon blockchain, IMPT structures these CO2 credits as NFTS and makes this trade process accessible to everyone.
$ IMPT is the native token of the IMPT.IO ecosystem that is used for all marketplace transactions. This means that CO2 credits with $ IMPT-TOKEN can be bought, sold, and traded, which forms the basis for the IMPT.IO marketplace.
However, what IMpt.io really distinguishes is the way the platform makes these emission credits accessible to the broad mass. Over 10,000 popular brands such as Microsoft and Adidas have already merged with IMpt.io to use part of their sales margin for sustainable projects.
This means that Impt.io will be rewarded with $ IMPT-TOKEN when buying goods and services of these brands. Since this $ IMPT-TOKEN can be exchanged for emission credits, this essentially means that IMPT.IO users can acquire CO2 credits through their daily purchasing activities. According to the WhitePaper from Impt.io, the value of these credits will continue to increase in the coming years due to the increasing global demand.
If an IMPT user wants to increase his positive effect, he can also choose to “burn” his emission credits. As a result, the credit is pulled out of traffic and essentially “removed” CO2 from the atmosphere. In return, users are rewarded with unique digital NFT artwork, which can then be traded on the IMPT.IO marketplace.
This unique environmentally friendly cryptocurrency is still under development. The first advance booking phase from IMPT TOKEN began on October 3, 2022. In this phase, 600 million IMPT-TOKEN was available at a price of only $ 0.018. The IMPT token is now in the second pre-sale phase. The price in the second ticket phase is $ 0.023 per token.
Due to the revolutionary environmentally friendly approach of IMPT.IO, it is very likely that the IMPT token advance sale will be sold out quickly. Investors who are interested in green cryptocurrencies should act quickly.
How can you buy IMPT tokens?
Like many new cryptocurrencies, Impt early investors are made available for the first time by means of a pre-sale. Presales are a popular method for new cryptocurrencies to obtain capital that the development team can then use to further expand the project.
Although the IMPT token differs from purchase via a crypto exchange, the purchase process is nevertheless efficient and simple. In this section, we explain the simple steps for all investors who are interested in this environmentally friendly cryptocurrency to buy IMPT-TOKEN today.
Step 1-Setting up a crypto wallet
The first step is to set up an ERC-20-capable crypto wallet. Since IMPT is an ERC 20 token, the selected wallet must support this token standard. A crypto wallet is used to keep the IMPT TOKEN after buying.
We recommend crypto beginners use meta mask, a free and easy-to-use crypto wallet.
Step 2 – Power payment method for IMPT TOKEN
Investors need either ETH or USDT to buy IMPT tokens. Both cryptocurrencies can be easily purchased via a broker or an exchange. Alternatively, investors can also buy ETH directly via the IMPT website using a credit card.
Step 3-Connect the wallet to the pre-sale dashboard from IMPT.IO
Now it is important to connect the previously created crypto wallet with the pre-sale dashboard from Impt.io. To do this, you simply have to visit the IMPT.IO homepage and click on the “Connect Wallet” button.
Then select the correct wallet (e.g. “Metamask”) to pair the crypto wallet with the pre-sale platform from IMPT.IO.
Step 4-Buy the environmentally friendly IMPT-TOKEN
As soon as the crypto wallet is successfully connected, only the investment has to be completed. You can now choose whether you want to buy IMPT with ETH or USDT. In addition, it is important to specify the number of IMPT-TOKEN that you want to buy.
After all the information has been checked, simply confirm the transaction and request the IMPT tokens after the advance sales are completed.
2. Solarcoin (SLR)
Solarcoin is a green cryptocurrency that, like other traditional cryptocurrencies, can be spent and acted on. However, the main difference is that the Solarcoin platform aims at creating incentives for positive environmental activities by verifying solar coin-produced solar energy.
Because Solarcoin is awarded to solar energy producers to create incentives for the use of solar energy. A solar coin is shaped for each Megawatt hour (MWh) Solarstrom. The Solarcoin Network works by uploading users to prove their environmentally friendly energy production. However, this could be automated in the future by using IoT devices.
The goal behind Solarcoin is to make solar energy free of charge by rewarding users with $ SLR tokens. Because as soon as the value of the $ SLR token exceeds the costs for the production of solar energy, the “solar coin” occurs-the point where environmentally friendly solar energy can be created “free of charge”.
Since Solarcoin is finally hosted on the Energy Web Chain (EWC), transactions are verified using a “proof-of-authority” (POA) protocol, which does not require mining and is therefore also considered energy-efficient and sustainable.
3. Solana (SOL)
Solana, a proof-of-stake blockchain with smart contract functionality, was one of the most successful cryptocurrencies in recent years. This climate-neutral green cryptocurrency achieved a return of more than 10,000 %in 2021.
Solana is one of the few environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies that aim to improve the services offered by the Ethereum network. Like Ethereum, Solana is a Smart-Contract-capable blockchain that offers a basis for developers of decentralized apps (DAPP) and NFT manufacturers. However, due to the unique, environmentally friendly consensus, Solana is not only more sustainable but also much more scalable.
Because Solana uses a hybrid proof-of-stake/proof-of-history protocol. Proof-of-Stake is used to choose block producers who then validate transactions and spread blocks. Proof-of-History records the order of the transactions and the time between them and offers a data structure that enables a quick and safe review of the transactions. This hybrid protocol helps to improve the traditional proof-of-stake models by ensuring the final and preventing double expenses. As a result, Solana is able to process more than 2,000 transactions per second with an average cost per transaction of only $ 0.00025.
Solana can also be seen as a sustainable cryptocurrency since a Solana transaction consumes only 3,290 joules of electricity. Many crypto experts are convinced that Solana is the green cryptocurrency with the most advantages due to its scalability and sustainability.
This last point is further strengthened by Solana’s partnership with Watershed Climate, in which Solana compensates for its CO2 emissions. The Solana network has become climate-neutral through this process.
4. Binance Coin (BNB)
Binance is a leading trading platform for cryptocurrencies that were put into operation in 2017 and quickly gained importance. As the largest crypto exchange after daily trading volume, Binance developed the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) in September 2020, a competitor to Ethereum with the same characteristics and functionalities.
However, Binance has fundamentally changed the consensus mechanism towards Ethereum by deciding on Proof of Staked Authority instead of environmental mining. The native cryptocurrency of the Binance Smart Chain is BNB. BNB was initially created as a utility token for early bony investors to get discounts on the stock exchange.
Over time, however, the Binance cryptocurrency has found more and more applications and is now considered one of the best environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies. However, Binance went one step further when it comes to sustainability.
Because Binance ensures that the organization fulfills the aspects of the ESG-defined standards. The environmental, social, and corporate governance framework (ESG) has been introduced to the measurement of the sustainability of companies for years. Binance believes that the introduction of ESG practices will ultimately benefit the users and the entire blockchain industry in the long term.
In addition to the commitment to environmental protection, existing ESG practices at Binance also include strengthening the representation and authorization of women and facilitating financial inclusion.
5. Algorand (ALGO)
Algorand’s blockchain also works with Proof-of-Stake (POS) and Smart Contracts, which makes it one of several green cryptocurrencies that compete with Ethereum. As a network, Algorand is not dependent on mining and tries to be a game changer in terms of sustainability by creating a network that does not create CO2 emissions.
According to the official website, Algorand was designed in an environmentally friendly manner and focuses on ensuring that Algorand does not damage the environment. For example, Algorand has teamed up with ClimateTrade, an organization that is committed to supporting companies to improve their sustainability profiles.
Algorand was founded by MIT Professor Silvio Micali. Micali already won the Turing Award in 2012 and ensured that the Algorand network uses environmentally friendly technologies to remain sustainable. Algorand uses a unique “pure proof-of-stake” (POS)-consensus mechanism, which means that every transaction in the network only consumes 0.000000004 kg CO2. This means that Algorand’s annual energy requirement roughly corresponds to that of only seven average households.
In addition, the Algorand team actively compensates for the network’s CO2 footprint by using smart contracts to buy CO2 certificates. Due to this process, Algorand has become CO2-negative on Nettobasis, which makes it one of the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies.
6. Stellar (XLM)
Stellar Lumen is a sustainable cryptocurrency that was split off by Ripple in 2014. Stellar obtained awareness by the fact that the organization received its initial financing from the financial service company Stripe. Other prominent supporters of Stellar are Google, Blackrock, and IBM.
Stellar Development Foundation is a non-profit organization that focuses on being a payment network similar to Visa. The organization is financed by public donations and enables cross-border transactions at favorable costs. In the meantime, even banking institutions in France, India, Ukraine, and the Philippines have dealt with Stellar Lumens, which illustrates Stellar’s future potential.
The Stellar Network uses sustainable Lumens cryptocurrency to facilitate transactions in its network. Instead of using the proof of work to verify transactions, Stellar uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP).
This sustainable consensus mechanism means that transactions are handled in five seconds or less and only cost a few cents for validation. While Bitcoin consumes 1.575-kilowatt hours per transaction, Stellar Lumens only consumes 0.00022-kilowatt hours per transaction, which makes it a much more sustainable and environmentally friendly cryptocurrency. In fact, Stellar Lumens even consumes fewer kilowatt hours per transaction than a commercially available visa transaction.
7. Ripple (XRP)
Ripple describes itself as an open-source and decentralized blockchain technology that can process transactions in three to five seconds. The native cryptocurrency of Ripple is XRP.
Ripple’s energy consumption is only 0.0079 kWh per transaction, which makes it one of the most energy-efficient cryptocurrencies. With a CO2-neutral destination by 2030, Ripple stands out from other environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies.
Ripple has thus become an environmentally friendly alternative to many of the larger traditional cryptocurrencies. The secret of the environmental friendliness of Ripple is that it does not use Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus mechanism. Instead, it uses a “distributed agreement protocol” that requires an agreement between a large majority of nodes to confirm transactions.
While critics have indicated that this ripple makes much less decentralized and secure than Bitcoin, this means that Ripple could scale far beyond Bitcoin and still be less energy-intensive.
8. Nano (NANO)
Nano was developed to work efficiently without the need for energy-intensive mining. This enables the Nano network to consume less energy than other cryptocurrencies and offers the world an environmentally friendly and sustainable cryptocurrency for a greener future.
When it comes to which crypto network uses the least energy, Nano is entitled to the title of the most sustainable cryptocurrency. With a consumption of only 0,000112 kWh per transaction, this green cryptocurrency is significantly below the energy consumption of giants such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Nano uses block grille technology to make its Pow system cheaper with regard to energy consumption. Accordingly, Nano is considered one of the most energy-efficient cryptocurrencies above all because of its decentralized network and its low energy expenditure per transaction.
As mentioned before, Nano does not require mining to validate transactions. Instead, individuals who run the software on their own computers serve as individual but connected blocks. In Nano, each user controls their own account and forms a grille from connected blocks.
Sustainable cryptocurrencies: what to look out for
Now that we have emphasized which environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies are worth checking, we take a closer look at what investors should pay attention to with these green cryptocurrencies and what these cryptocurrencies actually do to be more sustainable.
Because many new cryptocurrencies claim to be environmentally friendly – but there is a decisive difference between those who aim at it and those who are actually. The following characteristics are characterized by good ecological cryptocurrency.
Low energy consumption
First of all, it cannot be overlooked that blockchain networks consume electricity. Since there is no way around it, leading blockchains have continued to work innovatively in recent years and have developed ways of limiting their electricity consumption. By limiting your electricity requirement, these power-saving cryptocurrencies can reduce or even remove your CO2 footprint.
Use of renewable energies
Another simple way to reduce the environmental impact of mining cryptocurrencies is the increased use of renewable energy sources. This enables even environmentally harmful cryptocurrencies with a proof-of-work consensus protocol to reduce their CO2 footprint.
Around 57 % of the energy used for crypto mining currently comes from renewable sources such as hydropower, wind, and solar energy. In view of the inherent incentive for miners to minimize energy costs, and the fact that clean energy is now the cheapest energy source in some countries is to be expected that the proportion of green energy will continue to grow.
Environmentally friendly consensus protocols
Developers can also make their cryptocurrencies environmentally friendly by using an alternative to the popular Bitcoin Proof-of-Work (Pow) consensus protocol.
Most environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies use a consensus protocol called “Proof-of-Stake” (POS), which eliminates the need for energy-intensive computer hardware used during the mining process. This in turn drastically reduces electricity requirements.
Although many of the best ecological cryptocurrencies are now using a POS protocol, some even go one step further. For example, Solana uses a “hybrid” protocol that enables the network to be environmentally friendly and at the same time remain highly scalable.
Pre mining
The process of pre-mining is similar to that of Fiat currencies. A central authority creates a certain amount of the raw material in question, in this case, cryptocurrencies, and puts it into circulation accordingly.
In these systems, the transactions are checked by a decentralized network of miners before they are included in the blockchain Ledger. This leads to a significant reduction in C02 emissions.
Application of CO2 certificates
State carbon credits (CO2 certificates) can be applied to cryptocurrency mining companies and thereby compensate for the emissions created by cryptocurrencies.
This helps to improve the environmental effects of cryptocurrency mining worldwide. CO2 certificates are currently often used by environmentally harmful cryptocurrencies to improve their negative CO2 balance. In principle, CO2 certificates can also be used by an electricity-saving cryptocurrency in order to achieve CO2 neutrality, as in the case of Algorand.
Cryptocurrencies and energy consumption: Proof of Work VS Proof of Stake
Proof-of-work and proof-of-stake are consensus mechanisms that enable the safe operation of blockchains. These consensus mechanisms ensure blockchains by validating transactions on the blockchain and only allow real users to add new transactions to the blockchain.
The main difference between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake is how to choose who can validate the blockchain transactions. Part of the Proof of Stake vs. Proof of Work challenge is to maintain security and decentralization without having to use immense energy.
Proof of Work (Pow) was part of the crypto market from the start since it has been used for Bitcoin blockchain since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009. Proof of Work requires computers to solve cryptographic puzzles to validate transactions in the blockchain.
Proof of Work offers the blockchain the opportunity to remain trustworthy, which means that no central authority is required to check or manage the transactions. Proof of Work was a long time than the ultimate in terms of decentralized security. However, the biggest problem of Proof of Work is the very high energy consumption, which arises from the elaborate validation.
On the other hand, Proof of Stake (POS) is based on validators that have coins connected to the blockchain. At the Proof of Stake, a validator is selected in accordance with the random principle, partly based on how many coins he has included in the blockchain network. This is also referred to as “staking”.
The coins serve as security and if a participant or knot is selected randomly to validate a transaction, he receives a reward. Proof of Stake requires that several validators agree that a transaction is correct and as soon as enough nodes have verified the transaction, it is carried out. Proof of Stake randomly chooses its validators without having to solve complex mathematical problems, which means that this consensus mechanism is considered to be significantly more energy-efficient. The safety of a POS blockchain is ensured by the fact that validators have to use coins that they would lose in illegal activities.
It turns out that, in addition to the way the transactions of the miners are validated, there are two significant differences between the two methods-energy consumption and risk.
Proof of Work VS Proof of Stake – energy consumption
One of the biggest differences between Proof of Stake and Proof of Work is electricity consumption. A major disadvantage of traditional cryptocurrencies is the high power consumption. Due to its authentication model that uses high-performance computers, Proof of Work consumes considerably more energy.
For example, Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity annually than the countries of Finland and Belgium. For this reason, the Ethereum network recently switched to Proof of Stake. The Ethereum Foundation estimates that Ethereum will consume about 99.95 % less energy due to this change.
Energy consumption is mainly significantly lower because Proof of Stake chose the examiner by chance. This also ensures that the transaction times are faster.
Proof of Work vs Proof of Stake – attacks danger
With Proof of Work, miners have to compete to complete equations. As soon as a miner receives the blockchain block, the system relies on the fact that these miners follow the rules and are trustworthy. However, if a group of miners gains more than 50 % of the control, it can prevent transactions from being confirmed and theoretically even spend coins twice. This fraud is known as double-spending.
Proof of Stake differs because Miner can only validate blocks if they have a “stake”. When attackers try unfair processes, they lose their use (Stake). There is no real advantage for attackers of cryptocurrencies to disturb the blockchain because they cannot spend or steal coins twice without losing their investment. This reduces the attacks on Proof of Stake Blockchains to Proof of Work Blockchains.
Which cryptos are not environmentally friendly and sustainable?
In fact, every economic activity contributes to a collective environmental impact. This also applies to cryptocurrencies. The biggest problem with cryptocurrencies is their energy consumption.
The majority of this energy consumption comes from the crypto mining of cryptocurrencies that use the proof-of-work consensus mechanism. Bitcoin mining alone used an estimated 105 terawatt hour (TWh) as an example in 2021. This corresponds to almost as much electricity as the entire country of Argentina consumed this year.
While cryptocurrencies generally tend to damage the environment, some types of digital currencies are known to have larger effects than others.
As already mentioned, Bitcoin is harmful to the environment due to the energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus mechanism because enormous amounts of electricity are required.
Accordingly, it can be summarized that cryptocurrencies that use the proof-of-work consensus mechanism are usually not environmentally friendly or sustainable. These include Bitcoin (BTC), Dogecoin (Doge), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (etc), Monero (XMR), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), ZCash (ZEC) and Dash (Dash).
A cryptocurrency that, until recently, also used the Proof-of-Work Consensus Mechanism, but has converted its Pow system into a proof-of-stake (POS) system in response to the criticism of activists, is Ethereum. As a result, Ethereum wants to reduce its energy consumption by up to 99 %.
Where can you buy sustainable cryptocurrencies?
Nowadays there are numerous options for investors to explore the sustainable cryptocurrency market. If you would like to invest in green cryptocurrencies, you need a reliable and trustworthy online broker.
The following overview should make it easier to get started by listing the best options in which investors can act on ecological cryptocurrencies under favorable conditions.
OKX
OKX is one of the world’s leading decentralized crypto exchanges with more than 20 million users in over 200 countries. The stock exchange supports trade with more than 340 popular cryptocurrencies, including a variety of environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies.
To make trade with sustainable cryptocurrencies easier, OKX offers a lot of different functions such as a P2P crypto exchange and an integrated crypto wallet. The OKX stock exchange also supports crypto savings accounts and staking for several popular green cryptocurrencies. Crypto investors can earn interest of up to 12 % APY and even borrow money against their crypto stocks to increase their available capital with interest rates of only 1 % effective annual interest.
For most trades, the trading fees for OKX are only 0.10 % or less and the platform supports credit cards, debit cards, e-wallets, and bank transfers as deposit methods.
A special feature of the OKX stock exchange is that it is very suitable to find new sustainable and environmentally friendly crypto projects since the stock exchange regularly publishes a list of emerging cryptocurrencies that should keep an eye on traders.
eToro
eToro is also a cryptocurrency stock exchange that should be considered for environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies. eToro offers more than 70 cryptocurrencies and, in addition to the spread, does not charge trading fees for trading cryptocurrencies. There are also no fees for the deposit at Etoro. This applies to PayPal, debit/credit cards, domestic bank transfers, and all payment methods supported by eToro.
At the eToro account, investors can trade many green cryptocurrencies such as Solana and XRP. Alternatives can also consider investors who want to invest in environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies. This consists of more than a dozen cryptocurrencies – and the portfolio is regularly newly weighted, rebalanced, and managed by the eToro Team.
A mobile app for iOS or Android is also available for Etoro for free download. This gives investors the opportunity to act green on cryptocurrencies at all times.
In addition to cryptocurrencies, eToro also offers thousands of stocks and ETFs as well as raw materials and foreign exchange. In addition, eToro is a good option when investors want to stake POS cryptocurrencies – ADA, ETH, and TRX are supported for staking at eToro.
Etoro can also convince with regard to security. The broker is regulated by the SEC and is a member of the Finra. In addition, eToro is also licensed by Cyseec, ASIC, and the FCA.
Binance
If investors are looking for the lowest fees for the crypto stock exchange, Binance is worth considering. On this popular online stock exchange, investors can act as crypto-to-crypto pairs for a fee of 0.10 %.
However, interested investors should be aware that the trade in Binance contains additional non-trade fees. Depending on the selected payment method, an additional fee can be charged. For example, Binance raises a fee of 4.5 % when buying cryptos with a credit card.
One of the most attractive properties of Binance is the number of available cryptocurrencies on the platform. With Binance, more than 600 cryptocurrencies can be traded. In addition to the regular trade of cryptocurrencies, Binance also offers crypto futures trading.
In addition, Binance.com offers the unique opportunity to invest in the aforementioned BNB tokens-the local environmentally friendly tokens of the Binance network. By keeping these tokens, investors can benefit from several advantages on Binance, e.g. B. fewer fees for trading.
The trade on Binance can be carried out via the desktop app or the mobile bony app-available for iOS and Android. As the largest crypto exchange according to trading volume, Binance.com naturally has a user-friendly interface.
Binance is best suited for slightly advanced dealers and investors. This is due to the number of extended functions available in the Binance app, such as B. diagram options and API keys to integrate third-party software.
Coin base
Coinbase is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world and worldwide known to be the first crypto exchange that has successfully carried out an IPO (IPO).
Coinbase offers more than 200 cryptocurrencies on its platform and has an excellent Altcoin selection, which includes many of the most popular coins such as Ethereum and Algrond to new still unknown coins with low market capitalization.
Although there are numerous environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies to Coinbase, Coinbase has geographic restrictions in certain countries. As a public company, Coinbase is limited in the service that it can offer in certain countries. Investors can act on all coins in some countries, while others are only limited to conversions. For example, Ripple (XRP) is not listed at Coinbase.
Coinbase also enables POS cryptocurrencies to be stacked. Some of the coins that coinbase offers staking are Ethereum, Algorand, Cosmos, Dai, Tezos and Cardano, and Solana. Investors can earn up to 5.75 % interest per year.
At Coinbase, the fees are determined according to the trading volume. The larger the volume of a dealer, the fewer fees. Coinbase divides its fees between “Maker” and “Taker”. Houses with a volume of up to $ 10,000 per month pay 0.6 % fees as takers and 0.4 % as a maker. As soon as retailers exceed this limit and act up to $ 50,000 per month, Coinbase calculates a fee of 0.4 % for takers and 0.25 % for makers.
Environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies – conclusion
Although there is still a lot to do to reduce the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies, environmentally conscious investors can be pleased that there is already a remarkable and persistent movement in this direction.
In this way, crypto investors can minimize their CO2 footprint by choosing environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies. In addition to the sustainable cryptocurrencies mentioned here, new ecological cryptocurrencies are continuously developed and published.
In the case of an investment in green cryptocurrencies, however, it is necessary to carry out sufficient due diligence to ensure that the available options offer both the advantages of cryptocurrency trade and also take real and verified measures to protect the environment.
FAQs
Is Bitcoin environmentally friendly?
Bitcoin is not environmentally friendly because Bitcoin’s validation process is very energy-intensive. Bitcoin mining is estimated to be responsible for 0.1 % of global greenhouse gas emissions. Another environmental impact on Bitcoin is electronic waste due to the short lifespan of Bitcoin mining equipment. The worst is the power consumption of Bitcoin, which corresponds to the electricity consumption of countries such as Finland and Belgium. This ensures a surplus of 27.4 million tons of carbon dioxide per year (CO2), about three times as much as the largest coal-fired power plant in the USA.
Is Ethereum more environmentally friendly than Bitcoin?
Yes, since Ethereum has switched to a proof-of-stake model, Ethereum is more environmentally friendly than Bitcoin. Due to the transition to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism with Ethereum 2.0, mining from Ether is no longer necessary. A report by the Crypto Carbon Ratings Institute says that the network could reduce its energy consumption and its CO2 footprint by this switch by 99.99 %. Before Ethereum 2.0, the mining of Ether consumed approx. 83 terawatt hours (TWh) per year, which corresponds somewhat to the entire electricity consumption of Chiles and is only minimally less than Bitcoin 96 TWh per year.
What is the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrency?
It is difficult to determine the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrency since various metrics such as the electricity consumption per blockchain node, transactions per year, electricity consumption per transaction, the total electricity consumption per year, or the entire annual CO2 emissions could be used.
In this article, we presented some of the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies, which Impt was able to convince us as the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrency. This is because Impt.io can not only convince in the metrics mentioned above but also actively contributes to environmental protection through its CO2 certificate marketplace.
