18th July 2023 > > The US and Greenpeace.

tl;dr

Gotta love the US. The environmental debate around BTC is not going away anytime soon.

Market Snap

Market Wrap

Flirting with a break of $30k to the downside, the landscape looks rather different since the start of the weekend. XRP has kept most of its gains following the recent court judgement but the euphoria for the rest of the crypto markets has largely dissipated.

Disappointing, to say the least.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – US CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)

Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, signed a bill in March that prohibits the use of a US CBDC as money within Florida. This is in stark contrast to President Joe Biden’s executive order for the federal government to study the use cases of CBDCs.

Ron has gone a step further.

In his campaign to contest the presidential election next year, he has said that regarding CBDCs:

“Done, dead, not happening in this country. If I am the president, on day one, we will nix central bank digital currency.”

The Federal Reserve cannot introduce a CBDC without express authorisation from Congress, which is not going to happen anytime soon. Ron’s stance further entrenches the politicisation of cryptos in the US, but more importantly, it makes it more unlikely that the US will ever go down this route.

The US, Switzerland, and Slovakia are all fighting for our liberty and freedom from state-sponsored intrusion into our personal lives, and we should be thankful to them for that.

Curious Cryptos’ Commentary – The environmental debate around BTC

Greenpeace, a blatantly political organisation however laudable you believe its aims to be, has issued a predictably damning report about the energy usage of BTC miners. A press release, and a link to a pdf of the full 48-page report can be found here:

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/investing-in-bitcoins-climate-pollution/

On reading this report, I cannot escape the feeling that the report isn’t about decrying BTC, rather that it is using BTC as a cover story to attack asset managers, banks, and other key players essential to a capitalist system and society that brings so many benefits to all of us. Which Greenpeace is entitled to do, but it all feels rather disingenuous.

Still, I think it is worth reading in full to hear one, possibly partisan, point of view.

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Then, for balance, you should read this:

https://batcoinz.com/rebuttal-of-greenpeacusa-report-on-bitcoin/

This response identifies several inaccuracies within the Greenpeace report. It contradicts many of the base assertions and points out some emotive language with no basis in fact.

At one point the author poses a simple question. As Netflix, video gaming, clothes dryers, and Christmas lights all individually use more energy than BTC, where is the Greenpeace report attacking these four industries?

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The debate around the environmental impact of BTC will likely never abate, but using facts and confirmed data, with appropriate context, allows for a more considered opinion than simply leveraging emotions.