Why Greenpeace’s New Bitcoin Report Is Flawed

Environmental lobby group Greenpeace released a questionable report using lobbyists' past connections and old data to discredit bitcoin's energy impact. Crypto environmentalists have dismissed many of the findings.

According to the organization's latest report, current bitcoin mining lobbyists are from think tanks and anti-environmental advocacy groups.

Greenpeace exposed the suspected political connections

Greenpeace, an advocacy group, asserts that the Digital Chamber of Commerce, which counts Bitcoin miners Marathon Digital and Core Scientific among its members, wrote a congressional resolution to support Bitcoin mining. The Blockchain Association, which represents Coinbase, has opposed a bill that would require reporting of Bitcoin's greenhouse gas emissions and electricity use.

As a result, Greenpeace associates these advocacy groups with political power. The organization asserts that the chamber's CEO, Perrian Boring, previously worked as an intern at the White House, and that the organization's former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, sits on the organization's board. Fellow board member J.

The study found that Christine Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, and the Digital Chamber of Commerce spent heavily on political lobbying. Smith reportedly contributed $50,000 to the campaign of Republican pro-crypto Tom Emmer. Meanwhile, the Digital Chamber reportedly spent $230,000 of its $3.4 million revenue in 2023.

Read more: How Much Electricity Does Bitcoin Mining Use?

Smith profiled Open Secrets, a political lobbying transparency platform she advocated for one client, MetLife, in 2008, with the Digital Chamber spending $380,000 in 2023. It should be noted that organizations cannot directly contribute money to political campaigns. Their bodies can.

A report full of errors, says the expert.

Audit firm KPMG's report challenges Greenpeace's position on Bitcoin's climate impact. Like electric vehicles, bitcoin emissions come from burning methane gas or from dormant power generation facilities. An example of this is the Greenwich Generation Holdings mining plant in New York.

Moreover, the Greenpeace report presents figures that do not directly support the claims of renewable use with scientific proof. The Biden administration cited statistics on energy use by Bitcoin miners to deny similar findings by cryptocurrency mining companies.

Crypto Environmental and Sustainability Goals forecaster Daniel Batten explains the paper's inconsistency. For example, statements about the energy mix used by Bitcoin use outdated data that does not reflect current consumption patterns. Another description of Bitcoin's grid congestion combines three fallacies.

“One of the characteristics of Greenpeace's reports is that they are very easy to extract. You don't get past the first paragraph without reading a lot of misinformation… Bitcoin mining, far from refining electricity grids, has been shown in peer-reviewed studies to help grid operators balance the grid, prevent blackouts and eliminate the need for gas evasion plants. he said.

Read more: 7 Best Cryptocurrency Mining Hardware for 2024

The timing of the report raises questions about the timing of the report, after Bitcoin's price plunged 18% last week, from $74,000 to $60,800, due to environmental factors dampening investment.