Green cryptocurrencies: a business sustainability alternative

The cryptocurrencies They are already a reality. They were born around 2010 as a digital medium exchange that uses cryptography. Its exponential growth has no turning back. In that boom, one of the drawbacks they presented was the enormous amount of energy that was required to mine the data. This great consumption of resources made them an unfriendly option with the ecology and generated a low attraction between environmentalists.

However, Like any innovation process, it found its own improvement, and precisely because of its current links with the environment. It is about the green cryptocurrencies, an alternative that left that inconvenience behind and found a way to investment sustainable. This type of virtual currencies they rise like one ecological solution facing the problem of the use of oil-based resources.

The Green mining is that which is carried out using renewable energy sources and are based on new mechanisms that reduce the carbon footprint of blockchain technology. One of the mechanisms that these currencies apply is that they changed the use of “proof of work” (PoW) for “proof of stake” (PoS).

The first required large computers that consumed a lot of power to validate transactions and create new blocks. The second, on the other hand, allows the validation of transactions in the blockchain without the need for powerful machines, which generates significant energy savings. Ethereum, one of the cryptocurrencies with the highest market value, managed to reduce energy consumption by up to 99% thanks to a software update that allowed it to go from PoW to PoS.

Sustainable cryptocurrencies

This is not only good news for sustainability, but also for the business world. Recently, the Brazilian blockchain, Hathor Network, signed an agreement with the Argentina “Cryptofarms” to promote the sustainable mining. These companies will deliver twice as much “tokens” (the payment that the miner receives for his work) to those who use clean or renewable energy sources.

In the case of the Argentine company, The energy used comes from the conversion of biomass from agricultural waste such as cattle and chicken excrement. He methane gas produced by these wastes They are transformed into energy instead of being released into the atmosphere.

If we consider that Argentina is the Latin American country that most adopts this type of assets, the use of ecological cryptocurrencies is a solution to sustainability problems. In the country, several companies have the seal of Good Environmental Practices or B Companies that are on the way to achieving that goal. The Incorporating green cryptocurrencies can help reduce the carbon footprint of these companies.

The concern for sustainability crosses the world of finance and green cryptocurrencies They add to the new solutions offered by the market. In the world, there are already 40 companies that have included this type of asset in their corporate balance sheets and in total they accumulate 670,000 bitcoins (BTC).

Among the companies that adopted this type of currency is tesla, the electric car giant. The company led by the tycoon Elon Musk accumulate 10,725 BTC, which represents 0.051% of the total supply. For its part, Microstrategy, of the United States, was one of the first to adopt this currency and it is the public company with the largest amount of bitcoins on its corporate balance sheets.

Green cryptocurrencies have shown that, despite the short time they have been on the market, innovation with environmental awareness It is possible to apply, even in a short term. Nowcompanies have an investment alternative that, in addition to profitability, offers a solution to business sustainability objectives.