Originally published May 2022.

Greenpeace has finally woken up to the fact that bitcoin is wasting vast amounts of electricity and something should be done about it. They are calling for a change to bitcoin’s computer code to stop the waste. A change will be a difficult and long process to achieve. Therefore, many are wondering what they can do immediately to stop wasting electricity. Here is one: boycott bitcoin to immediately reduce global electricity production by 0.6%.

Most people understand that the higher the demand for a product, in this case bitcoin, the more the price of the product rises. Bitcoin has been considered a new store of value, a commodity like gold. Of course, it isn’t, because nothing can be made of it. It will never, like Agamemnon’s funereal mask of gold, be discovered after thousands of years and hailed as an archaeological treasure, maintaining its value from a time predating the Trojan War.

Some think bitcoin is a form of payment and transfer of funds, but that mainly applies to criminal activities. 

What is unquestionable in this energy-conscious world is that the production of bitcoin involves a large expenditure of electricity. So much so that transferring bitcoin uses 0.6% of global electricity production.