Cryptocurrencies are gaining more popularity due to their security, making counterfeits impossible. However, these digital currencies have been criticized for creating a large carbon footprint due to their algorithmic complexity and decentralized system design for proof of work and mining. We hypothesize that the carbon footprint of cryptocurrency transactions has a higher dependency on carbon-rich fuel sources than green or renewable fuel sources. We provide a machine learning framework to model such transactions and correlate them with the electricity generation patterns to estimate and analyze their carbon cost.
@article{arxiv.2206.03227,
title = {Does Crypto Kill? Relationship between Electricity Consumption Carbon Footprints and Bitcoin Transactions},
author = {Altanai Bisht and Arielle Wilson and Zachary Jeffreys and Shadrokh Samavi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2206.03227},
year = {2022}
}