Ripple CEO partners with environmental groups over Bitcoin energy usage concerns

In addition, Michael Brune, former executive director of the Sierra Club, is joining the initiative as a campaign advisor.

Bitcoin supporters say proof-of-work adds to Bitcoin’s strength and helps it remain truly decentralized. They say the campaign likely won’t change anything, and forcing Bitcoin to use a new consensus model could be harmful to the digital currency’s existing infrastructure.

What is the goal of the campaign?

“Change the Code, Not the Climate” wants Bitcoin to switch away from a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model in favor of a proof-of-stake (PoS) one.

On its website, the campaign says that PoW is an “outdated technology” that uses much more energy compared to PoS. It claims if Bitcoin switched to PoS, it would reduce its energy consumption by 99.9%.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Larsen also mentioned how Bitcoin is the last major PoW crypto now that Ethereum is in the middle of moving to PoS. “Now with Ethereum changing, Bitcoin really is the outlier,” Larsen said.

Larsen stressed that the “Change the Code” is not an anti-Bitcoin campaign. Instead, Larsen said, he wants to see Bitcoin succeed.

“If I was concerned about Bitcoin as a competitor, probably the best thing I could do is let it continue on this path,” Larsen said.

Larsen stated Ripple is not involved in the campaign in any way.

How will the campaign work? 

The “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign is currently focused on launching ads and influencing public figures that back Bitcoin. 

According to Greenpeace’s statement, they have put ads in major publications like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Politico, Marketwatch, and Facebook.

The ads feature messages like:

• “Bitcoin: Proof that Money Isn’t Always Green” 
• “Does Bitcoin Actually Use More Power Than All of Sweden? Hell Ja” 
• “Hey Jack Dorsey. You Could Help Stop Bitcoin’s Pollution With a Tweet” 
• “If Only a Few Dozen People Agreed to Change Bitcoin, It Would Stop Polluting the Planet” 

When people visit the campaign’s website, they will be asked to sign a petition “to tell big tech and finance corporations to stop Bitcoin from polluting the planet.”

Communicating with big tech, influencers, and finance corporations is also part of the campaign’s plan. Their website states they believe it would only take 30 key players in the Bitcoin industry to shift the crypto over to PoS – top miners, exchanges, and core developers behind the currency’s code.

Also on the website, visitors can take actions like sharing the campaign’s manifesto and pre-made social media posts targeted at influential figures in the tech and finance world like Jack Dorsey and Elon Musk.

Are Bitcoin energy usage concerns valid?

On their website, “Change the Code” says Bitcoin mining uses more energy than the country of Sweden. They also say this energy comes mainly from fossil fuels since its cheap cost appeals to miners.

Bitcoin energy usage concerns have influenced several companies to stop accepting the coin as payment. 

Greenpeace is one of these organizations – they took the digital currency for years until they decided to stop in 2021 due to environmental concerns. In the same year, Tesla also stopped taking Bitcoin for the same reason.

While this shows some valid concern about Bitcoin’s environmental impact, Bitcoin supporters say there is still debate about just how extensive Bitcoin energy usage is, especially compared to other industries.

Plus, Bitcoin enthusiasts point out, the coin may actually help increase the adoption of renewable energy. 

Will this campaign end up affecting Bitcoin?

This isn’t the first time the CEO of Ripple has expressed concern about Bitcoin energy usage. Last year, Larsen proposed an idea for Bitcoin to move toward PoS by rewarding miners with BTC according to their share of the network’s hash rate.

But both then and now, Larsen faced backlash from those who believe Bitcoin should stay proof-of-work.

For Bitcoin to change its code, it would need to undergo a blockchain fork. This process would require the majority of Bitcoin’s key supporters to approve the move – something enthusiasts say isn’t likely to happen.

In the same Bloomberg report, Chris Bendiksen, a Bitcoin mining expert and researcher at CoinShares responded to the campaign. 

“I’d put the chance of Bitcoin ever moving to PoS at exactly 0%. There is no appetite among Bitcoiners to destroy the security of the protocol by making such a move,” said Bendiksen.