Riot Platforms, a crypto mining company named in The New York Times' (NYT) article "The Real-World Cost of the Digital Race for Bitcoin," disputed their claims on April 10. The article suggested that Riot exclusively used fossil fuel energy, produced 1.9 million tons of CO2 annually, and generally has a negative environmental impact. However, Riot counters that its Bitcoin mining operations come from the Texas electrical grid, which relies on renewable sources for a large part of its energy. Furthermore, Riot states that its activities are just like any other data centers, and do not generate any greenhouse gas emissions.

Riot also argues that electricity prices are increasing for a variety of reasons, not just energy use from crypto mining. The company accused NYT of making politically motivated claims and intentionally ignoring data provided by Riot. Cryptocurrency mining has long been criticized for its large energy use, with some early estimates finding that it uses as much energy as certain countries. Yet, according to some estimates, around half of Bitcoin mining uses renewable energy.

The advent of NFTs also drew criticism for its energy use. Ethereum, which is the basis for most of these NFTs, has taken steps to reduce energy use by discontinuing crypto mining. As of now, these transactions are confirmed independently, with no need for competitive energy use.



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