FORTUNE FAVORS THE BOLD-UNLESS YOU’RE IN RURAL AMERICA: LEGISLATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
Cryptocurrency aims to democratize financial transactions. Through a digitized blockchain, cryptocurrency miners can “mine” currency with the rapid use of equations, which adds the cryptocurrency to the blockchain and financially rewards the miners. Proof-of-work mining, used for Bitcoin, the most prevalent cryptocurrency, consumes massive amounts of energy, and the total energy output of the cryptocurrency industry utilizes as much energy as a small nation. Such an energy-hungry process can have detrimental environmental and health effects. This Article offers solutions which can be placed into five distinct categories: prescriptive legislation, property rights, payments, penalties, and persuasion. While each approach offers both benefits and drawbacks, the solutions present a way forward that both solves the challenges surrounding cryptocurrency and protects North Carolina’s emerging industry.
Author: Chloe Picchio
PDF: http://journals.law.unc.edu\/ncjolt/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2023/05/Picchio-Final.pdf
Volume 24, Issue 3