Selected Online Reading on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain

• Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin; De Vries, Alex; Patterns (New York, N.Y.); 2023; Vol.4 (1); p.100633

Abstract: Amid the current climate emergency and global energy crisis, regulators have started to consider their options to limit the power demand of cryptocurrency networks. One specific way crypto-asset communities can limit their environmental impact is by avoiding or replacing the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining mechanism. Ethereum, the second largest crypto-asset by market capitalization, had its PoW replaced with an alternative known as proof-of-stake during an event called The Merge on September 15, 2022. In this perspective, the likely range of electricity saved due to this change is estimated, while the limitations in assessing these figures are highlighted. Lastly, the challenges and opportunities in replicating The Merge on other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are discussed.

• On Prices of Privacy Coins and Bitcoin; Hilmola, Olli-Pekka; Journal of risk and financial management; 2021-08-01, Vol.14 (361), p.361.

Abstract: Since the inauguration of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin has been under pressure from competing tokens. As Bitcoin is a public open ledger blockchain coin, it has its weaknesses in privacy and anonymity. In the recent decade numerous coins have been initiated as privacy coins, which try to tackle these weaknesses. This research compares mostly mature privacy coins to Bitcoin, and comparison is made from a price perspective. It seems that Bitcoin is leading privacy coins in price terms, and correlation is typically high and positive. From the earlier crypto market peak of 2017–18, only a very small number of coins are showing positive returns in 2021. It is typical that many privacy coins have lost substantial amounts of their value (ranging 80–90%) or that they do not exist anymore at all. Only Horizen and Monero have shown long-term sustainability in their value; however, their price changes follow that of Bitcoin very closely. The role of privacy coins in the future remains as an open issue.

• (Un)Sustainability of Bitcoin mining; Gulli, Amanda; Rutgers computer & technology law journal; 2020-03-22, Vol.46 (1), p. 95.

Abstract: Consuming large amounts of electricity is not incidental to Bitcoin, but instead, it is another immutable characteristic at the core of Bitcoin. The causal link between C02 emissions and Bitcoin
mining cannot be treated so blase. Instead of relying on Bitcoin itself to reduce its emissions, government actors must intervene and regulate. Bitcoin could double the magnitude of climate-related
disasters, without regulation or innovation. Governments must realize the sustainability of Bitcoin is not plausible and could be detrimental to the climate if there is no action to reduce their energy
consumption.

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