Bitcoin Mining has a sustainable side, Greenpeace sculptor claims
Environmental art activist and ‘Skull of Satoshi’ creator Benjamin Von Wong took to Twitter to promote sustainable art and show optimism about Bitcoin mining using green energy. He also continued to protect his publication in the face of mounting criticism.
The Canadian artist released the ‘Skull of Satoshi’ artwork on March 23rd. The release was part of Greenpeace’s continuing “change the code, not the climate” campaign.
Wong Says Piece Is Not ‘Anti-Bitcoin’
Benjamin Von Wong tweeted that his artwork ‘Skull of Satoshi’ was never meant to be anti-Bitcoin.
He said, “There was an optimistic hope that Bitcoin could shift away from the unnecessary burning of fossil fuels…” Wong expressed optimism about the switch without Bitcoin losing its security and decentralization.
Amidst the ongoing debate about the negative effects of Bitcoin mining, the commissioned artwork caught the attention of the meme army.
Wong defended his work by claiming that he created the shell, assuming that Bitcoin mining had a simple, binary problem. The creator refrained from labeling it a black and white issue. However, he stated that PoW ‘intuitively felt wasted.’
However, Wong acknowledged that the “Skull of Satoshi” suggests that Bitcoin has the potential to be more environmentally friendly.
A push for renewable mining
At the time of the art release, Greenpeace said it was a visual reminder to Bitcoin’s supporters of its environmental impact. The organization said it would use the Skull of Satoshi to urge Bitcoin to change its code and insist that financial institutions uphold their climate commitments.
Wong pointed out that Greenpeace believes there will eventually be a “better” form of Bitcoin with all the benefits and none of the environmental drawbacks. In light of this, the artist urged: “Instead of fighting it, join and improve it from within. Work within the system of existing incentives.”
Wong made the plea despite some Bitcoiners believing that the network will only change the code if there is an existential threat to the network itself. He explained, “If BTC miners help invest in renewable energy like wind and solar to move the world away from relying on fossil fuels, the GP campaign will have nothing to do.”
BeInCrypto has previously noted, citing ARK’s research, that increasing solar capacity by 4.6 times could satisfy over 99% of customer demand. All this while maintaining Bitcoin’s profitability.
On March 27th, a pure Bitcoin renewable energy compensation was in practice minted as an Ordinal NFT. The Carbon.Credit exchange said in a release that the product will be traded as Clean Bitcoin (CBTC).
Last year, Ethereum transitioned from PoW to proof of stake (PoS) via The Merge on the mainnet.
Disclaimer
BeInCrypto has reached out to the company or person involved in the story for an official statement on the latest development, but has yet to hear back.
