Cryptocurrency Energy Consumption Meeting Set For January 20th

The United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce has announced a hearing regarding energy consumption within the cryptocurrency industry. The hearing is scheduled to take place on Thursday, January 20th, 2022.

“In just a few short years, cryptocurrency has seen a meteoric rise in popularity. It’s time to understand and address the steep energy and environmental impacts it is having on our communities and our planet,” said Committee Chairman Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Oversight and Investigations Chair Diana DeGette (D-CO) in a joint statement.

The two continued that the goal of the hearing would be on proof-of-work (POW) blockchains-like the one utilized by Bitcoin and Ethereum- and how such cryptos could migrate to cleaner alternatives.

“We look forward to examining the crypto mining's growing energy footprint and how proof of work blockchains, in particular, may migrate toward cleaner alternatives and renewable energy solutions.”

The hearing is being titled “Cleaning Up Cryptocurrency: The Energy Impacts of Blockchains,” and will occur on January 20 at 10:30 am EST.

Proof of work blockchains energy consumption was a big point of debate throughout 2021. These blockchains require powerful computers to complete increasingly difficult mathematical problems 24/7 to keep the network operating. This process consumes massive amounts of energy.

The network consumes around 120 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy per year according to Cambridge University, this is a figure much higher than most countries in the world today.

Bitcoin is not the only proof of work cryptocurrency that consumes a lot of energy. According to the Digieconomist, which tracks the consequences of technology, the Ethereum network consumes about 106 TWh per year.

While there are alternatives to the POW blockchains, the top two cryptos are both based on the energy cavern that is proof of work. Ethereum is beginning a process to move to the less energy consuming proof-of-stake blockchain.

This hearing is crucial for crypto’s view in the public consciousness as in the past the industry has not been marketed fairly due to a lack of knowledge that continues to diminish as more hearings and conferences around the technology begin to pick up.