NewsBTC
No Result
View All Result
  • Cryptocurrency News
    • Bitcoin News (BTC)
    • Ethereum News (ETH)
    • Ripple News (XRP)
    • Shiba Inu News (SHIB)
    • Cardano News (ADA)
    • Dogecoin News (DOGE)
    • Solana News (SOL)
    • Litecoin News (LTC)
    • Avalanche News (AVAX)
    • Polygon News (MATIC)
  • Crypto Prices
    • Binance Coin (BNB) Price
    • Bitcoin (BTC) Price
    • Cardano (ADA) Price
    • Chainlink (LINK) Price
    • Dogecoin (DOGE) Price
    • Ethereum (ETH) Price
    • Litecoin (LTC) Price
    • Polkadot (DOT) Price
  • Crypto Resources & Directory
  • All Crypto
  • Play GamesTry
  • CasinosTry
Breaking News: Coinbase Confirms DOJ Investigation Following Major Security Incident
  • Cryptocurrency News
    • Bitcoin News (BTC)
    • Ethereum News (ETH)
    • Ripple News (XRP)
    • Shiba Inu News (SHIB)
    • Cardano News (ADA)
    • Dogecoin News (DOGE)
    • Solana News (SOL)
    • Litecoin News (LTC)
    • Avalanche News (AVAX)
    • Polygon News (MATIC)
  • Crypto Prices
    • Binance Coin (BNB) Price
    • Bitcoin (BTC) Price
    • Cardano (ADA) Price
    • Chainlink (LINK) Price
    • Dogecoin (DOGE) Price
    • Ethereum (ETH) Price
    • Litecoin (LTC) Price
    • Polkadot (DOT) Price
  • Crypto Resources & Directory
  • All Crypto
  • Play GamesTry
  • CasinosTry
Bitcoin News
No Result
View All Result
Breaking News: Coinbase Confirms DOJ Investigation Following Major Security Incident

Lessons From Reason’s “The Fake Environmentalist Attack on Bitcoin” Mini-Doc

Eduardo Próspero
Eduardo Próspero
1 year ago
5 mins read
Reason, Energy consumption per year

Reason to trust

Strict editorial policy that focuses on accuracy, relevance, and impartiality
Created by industry experts and meticulously reviewed
The highest standards in reporting and publishing
How Our News is Made

Strict editorial policy that focuses on accuracy, relevance, and impartiality

Ad discliamer

Morbi pretium leo et nisl aliquam mollis. Quisque arcu lorem, ultricies quis pellentesque nec, ullamcorper eu odio.

Phenomenal piece by Reason Magazine. We at NewsBTC have been countering the Bitcoin-is-bad-for-the-environment narrative for a while now. Now, we have a new tool. A short and sweet documentary that rests on a devastating premise. “Such environmentalist attacks on bitcoin are best understood as a strategy by economic, media, and political elites to undermine a powerful new form of money that they can’t control.” Boom! That’s exactly what’s happening.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Mining Vs. The World: BTC Leads Sustainable Energy

Let’s explore the idea further, but first, let’s let Reason Magazine define who they are and what they stand for:

“Reason is the planet’s leading source of news, politics, and culture from a libertarian perspective. Go to reason.com for a point of view you won’t get from legacy media and old left-right opinion magazines.”

You’ve been warned. This is the perspective you’ll get from this article and from “The Fake Environmentalist Attack on Bitcoin” Mini-Doc:

The mini-documentary starts with the filthy propaganda the state usually serves:

“Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are terrible for the environment,” declares Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). “It’s an extremely inefficient way of conducting transactions,” pronounces former Federal Reserve Chair and current Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. “It’s a way to both hide dirty money and destroy the environment at the same time,” says Daily Show host Trevor Noah.

Reason Magazine Summarizes The Government’s Perspective

Then, Elizabeth Warren brings up the most ridiculously flamboyant stat ever uttered. According to the Senator, a single Bitcoin transaction uses the same amount of energy that an average house uses in 53 days. WHAT? Couldn’t these government people control themselves and provide a more plausible number? Do people actually believe these made-up stats? Apparently, they do, as the Discord story proves. 

“Discord’s founder and CEO Jason Citron hinted at possible integration with the Ethereum ecosystem, with NFTs, and with the incoming Web3. And all hell broke loose.
Discord fanatics spammed Citron’s replies and canceled their subscriptions to their Nitro premium service. Discord’s own employees took to social media to express their discomfort. Video game culture influencers rallied the masses and gathered hundreds of Likes and Retweets. What were their reasons? Environmental concerns.”

Back to Reason’s documentary, Bitcoin spokesperson Nic Carter dismantles the government’s techniques. They establish an exaggerated per transaction cost, and then “extrapolate Bitcoin’s transactional load to hundreds of billions per year.” They’re not dumb, they know that “The electricity consumed by mining isn’t used to power individual transactions.” However, the average citizen doesn’t. Nic Carter closes with, “Bitcoin’s transactions and Bitcoin’s energy use are not really correlated.”

They aren’t. Bitcoin produces one block full of transactions every ten minutes on average. If we reduced the mining to only one machine, Bitcoin would still produce the same amount of blocks in the same amount of minutes. 

BTCUSD price chart for 11/19/2021 - TradingView

BTC price chart for 11/19/2021 on Capital.com | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

The Media Claims Are Outlandish, To Say The Least

The mini-documentary’s host is Nick Gillespie, Reason’s Editor At Large. He admits “The energy used by Bitcoin mining has increased significantly and it will continue to grow, but the media claims are outlandish.” As an example, he offers this ridiculous 2017 Newsweek article titled “Bitcoin Mining on Track to Consume All of the World’s Energy by 2020.” As you might suspect, Newsweek’s prediction didn’t come true.

Then, it’s time for some real stats. According to the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, Bitcoin consumes “just over a hundred terawatt-hours per year.” That’s 117.02, to be exact. That’s on the high end of the spectrum of Nick Hansen’s estimations. According to him, “most likely, the Bitcoin network is between 4.2 and 14.2 Gigawatts” per hour. If the network consumed the full 14.2 Gigawatts per hour, that would amount to 124 terawatt-hours per year. However, it’s probably considerably less if Hansen’s stats are right.

Pick the number you trust the most, it’s still a worthy investment considering everything Bitcoin offers the world.

Critics Tend To Ignore These Facts

Reason defines mining as “the process through which a global network of computers maintains the bitcoin network through computation. Though energy-intensive, this process is what makes bitcoin a truly decentralized monetary system.” And that’s a fact. Proof-Of-Work is essential to decentralization. There is no alternative. A little later, Reason’s Nick Gillespie hits us with another home run, “the work being carried out by this global computer network is what allows Bitcoin to be controlled by mathematical rules instead of human actors vulnerable to government or corporate control.”

Then, the documentary presents another crucial fact, “Miners are incentivized to use energy that would otherwise go to waste.” The Human Rights Foundation’s Alex Gladstein puts it in another way, “Bitcoin miners need energy that nobody else wants.” Why? Because it’s cheaper. The incentives are clear as day.

After that, Reason brings out the ace under Bitcoin’s sleeve, “In the Western United States, mobile Bitcoin miners are already running on electricity derived from unused natural gas from oil wells that can’t be captured because there are no pipelines to carry it.” Luckily for the government, Reason doesn’t bring up everything Bitcoin mining is doing for the Navajo Nation.

Reason Closes It Off With Even More Stats 

In a questionable move, Reason quotes the Bitcoin Mining Council controversial report. That one puts Bitcoin’s sustainable energy use at around 56%. Let’s quote NewsBTC’s report on that number.

“The good news is, there’s data to show that Bitcoin’s “mining electricity mix increased to 56% sustainable in Q2 2021.” Is that data valid? That’s another question altogether. The Bitcoin Mining Council elaborates on the results:

The results of this survey show that the members of the BMC and participants in the survey are currently utilizing electricity with a 67% sustainable power mix.”

Related Reading | Power Ledger Blockchain Firm Signs Deal with Japanese Green Energy Supplier

We can say that because, here at NewsBTC, we’re partial to Bitcoin. Was it a good idea for Reason to use it? Maybe not, but notice that they used the conservative 56% figure and not the aspirational 67% one. The magazine knows what it’s doing. That’s why they brought back Nic Carter to close the documentary, “Bitcoin is a vote of no confidence in the monetary and financial system that exists today.”

That’s exactly what it is. Among other things.

Featured Image: Screenshot from the documentary | Charts by TradingView
Tweet123Share196ShareSend
Eduardo Próspero
Eduardo Próspero

Eduardo Próspero

Eduardo Prospero is an author, a content writer, and a professional rapper.
A Bitcoin maximalist in disguise.
Working on a Bitcoin book.
Venezuelan.

Read more

He wrote a novel, but it's only available in Spanish. It's called "La Tormenta."

Close

Disclaimer: The information found on NewsBTC is for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.

Related News

Dogecoin

Analysts Predict Major Dogecoin Price Rally After Breaking 50-Day Trendline

The Dogecoin price may be setting up for a significant rally as a technical analyst identifies a bullish breakout above...

Scott Matherson 2 hours ago

Bitcoin Needs $140K To Match Peak Profits, On-Chain Data Shows

Long‑term holders of Bitcoin may need to see a fresh high around $140,000 before they enjoy the same kind of...

Christian Encila 3 hours ago
Ethereum Looks Strong Despite Volatility – $10,000 Price Target Gains Momentum

Ethereum Looks Strong Despite Volatility – $10,000 Price Target Gains Momentum

Ethereum has regained strong bullish momentum over the past few days, rising more than 23% since June 22 and reclaiming...

Sebastian Villafuerte 4 hours ago
Load More

Reason to trust

Strict editorial policy that focuses on accuracy, relevance, and impartiality
Created by industry experts and meticulously reviewed
The highest standards in reporting and publishing
How Our News is Made

Strict editorial policy that focuses on accuracy, relevance, and impartiality

Ad discliamer

Morbi pretium leo et nisl aliquam mollis. Quisque arcu lorem, ultricies quis pellentesque nec, ullamcorper eu odio.

Related News

Ethereum Liquid Staking Hits New ATH With 35.5 Million ETH Locked – Will Price Follow?

Ash Tiwari 1 minute ago
Litecoin Surges Past Descending Resistance – Bulls Target $97.10 Level

Litecoin Surges Past Descending Resistance – Bulls Target $97.10 Level

Sebastian Villafuerte 1 hour ago
Bitunix bonus krypto giełda promocja USDT

Nowa promocja Bitunix. Bonus w wysokości 2410 USDT na start

News BTC 1 hour ago

Premium Sponsors

Press Releases

  • Top kryptoměna ke koupi dříve, než vzroste o 2 200 %, podle Cathie Wood

    Top kryptoměna ke koupi dříve, než vzroste o 2 200 %...

    3 hours ago
  • The smartest way to make money in 2025: Invest in cloud...

    10 hours ago
  • Od Bitcoinu k BTC Bull: Kde leží skutečný potenciál?

    ...

    10 hours ago
  • Bitcoin vs. Gold: Which Is the Best Investment In 2025?

    10 hours ago
  • Profit of $5,735, senior trader uses Ripple (XRP) to open...

    10 hours ago

Newsletter

Be the first to get the latest important crypto news & events to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

About Us

NewsBTC is a cryptocurrency news service that covers bitcoin news today, technical analysis & forecasts for bitcoin price and other altcoins. Here at NewsBTC, we are dedicated to enlightening everyone about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

We cover BTC news related to bitcoin exchanges, bitcoin mining and price forecasts for various cryptocurrencies.

Disclaimer: The information found on NewsBTC is for educational purposes only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website entirely at your own risk.

Company

  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Center

Social

© 2025 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

  • Cryptocurrency News
    • Bitcoin News (BTC)
    • Ethereum News (ETH)
    • Ripple News (XRP)
    • Shiba Inu News (SHIB)
    • Cardano News (ADA)
    • Dogecoin News (DOGE)
    • Solana News (SOL)
    • Litecoin News (LTC)
    • Avalanche News (AVAX)
    • Polygon News (MATIC)
  • Crypto Prices
    • Binance Coin (BNB) Price
    • Bitcoin (BTC) Price
    • Cardano (ADA) Price
    • Chainlink (LINK) Price
    • Dogecoin (DOGE) Price
    • Ethereum (ETH) Price
    • Litecoin (LTC) Price
    • Polkadot (DOT) Price
  • Crypto Resources & Directory
  • All Crypto
  • Play Games
  • Casinos
Advertise

© 2025 NewsBTC. All Rights Reserved.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy Center or Cookie Policy.