The need for a clear and balanced concept of the issue was a recurring theme in the panel discussion on the carbon footprint of cryptocurrencies at the 2022 World Economic Forum. There was general agreement that judgment on the consensus mechanisms of cryptocurrency mining and education has been rushed, and careful policymaking can counter this.
“Crypto tribalism” on social media is an impediment to environmentally sound crypto mining, said FTX.US President Brett Harrison, comparing the situation to politics. “A vocal minority obscures the majority,” he said, while there is a unified effort in the background. And he added: “Professionals have to tell real stories.”
The CEO of DataKind, Lauren Woodman spoke of the need to “bring everyone to the table”. In some places, cryptocurrency mining operations are often seen as disruptive to the power systems she relies on, she said, but an anchor power customer enables infrastructure to be built elsewhere.
“Picking a winner” among the variety of consensus mechanisms “defeats the purpose of blockchain,” which is multi-chain and multi-asset interoperability, said Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation. There should be no value judgment on energy consumers, rather energy efficiency should be valued equally by everyone.
The managing partner of Skybridge Capital, Anthony Scaramucci equated decentralization with anti-fragility, noting that cryptocurrency mining is in the early stages of its development, “so early that you can’t pick a winner.”
Harrison brought up the practical side of the matter. “All members of this platform can agree on the need for regulationI think,” Harrison said, adding that responsible regulation is not about banning technology, it’s about solving problems.
Education has to go along with regulation, according to Robert Wardrop, professor of financial management practice at the University of Cambridge and director of the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance. He said:
“Trusting technology means trusting its governance.”
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