Bitcoin vs. the Petrodollar: Which Is More Environmentally Friendly? - Ep.238

Unchained

Laura Shin

News, Tech News, Business News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 May 2021

⏱️ 68 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Last week, Tesla announced they will no longer accept Bitcoin as payment for vehicles. In a timely episode, Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, and James McGinniss, CEO and co-founder of David Energy, come onto the show to discuss Bitcoin, the petrodollar, and how to contextualize the energy usage of the first cryptocurrency (BTC) versus the leading fiat currency (USD). Show highlights: their backgrounds and how they became interested in the intersection of currency and energy usage why Alex and James really think Tesla stopped accepting BTC as payment why James thinks Bitcoin’s energy intensity is a “feature, not a bug” Alex on the history of the petrodollar and how the USD in recent decades has been tied to fossil fuel production comparing the carbon cost of a dollar to Bitcoin’s energy consumption what both James and Alex think of the Square and Ark Invest research paper saying renewable energy production could be tied with Bitcoin mining why measuring Bitcoin’s energy usage is difficult how Bitcoin mining in China is changing for the better how the Biden administration might impact Bitcoin where to find more information on Bitcoin and energy consumption Thank you to our sponsors! E&Y: https://ey.com/globalblockchainsummit Crypto.com: https://crypto.onelink.me/J9Lg/unchainedcardearnfeb2 Kyber Network: Dmm.exchange Episode Links People: Alex Gladstein Twitter: https://twitter.com/gladstein Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/ James McGinniss Twitter: https://twitter.com/James_McGinniss David Energy: https://www.davidenergy.com/ Recommended Reads: “Uncovering the Hidden Cost of the Petrodollar” by Alex Gladstein https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/the-hidden-costs-of-the-petrodollar “Think BTC is a Dirty Business? Consider the Carbon Cost of a Dollar” by Susan Su https://susanfsu.medium.com/think-btc-is-a-dirty-business-consider-the-carbon-cost-of-a-dollar-c38122fb55c5 “Bitcoin is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future” by Square and Ark Invest https://assets.ctfassets.net/2d5q1td6cyxq/2D2BnksJjavw4a6SUvAPwZ/c42a9e3a520b0cc3b230cda3b43eead5/BCEI_White_Paper_.pdf Elisabeth Steyn thread on Tesla and energy credits https://twitter.com/Elisabeth_Steyn/status/1392799067986554880 “Tesla seeks entry into U.S. renewable fuel credit market” by Reuters https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exclusive-tesla-seeks-entry-into-us-renewable-fuel-credit-market-sources-2021-05-12/ “Debt” by David Graeber https://www.amazon.com/Debt-First-5-000-Years/dp/1612191290 Others: Bitcoin energy consumption index https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption/ Cambridge study on cryptoassets https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2021-ccaf-3rd-global-cryptoasset-benchmarking-study.pdf Triffin Dilemma https://dailyreckoning.com/the-triffin-dilemma/ Alex Gladstein’s Recommended Follows: Nic Carter https://twitter.com/nic__carter Lyn Alden https://twitter.com/LynAldenContact Susan Su https://twitter.com/susanfsu Luke Gromen https://twitter.com/LukeGromen Michael Hudson https://twitter.com/michaelwhudson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi everyone, welcome to Unchained, your No-Hole Pre-Source for All Things Crypto.
0:07.6	I'm your host, Laura Shin, a journalist with over two decades of experience.
0:11.6	I started covering crypto six years ago and as a senior editor at Forbes was the first
0:16.0	mainstream media reporter to cover cryptocurrency full-time.
0:19.6	Sign up for my newsletter where I will soon be making an announcement about pre-orders
0:22.8	for my book, The Cryptopians, Idealism, Breed, Lies and the Making of the First Big Crypto
0:28.9	head to Unchainedpodcast.com and the sign up for the email newsletter is right on the homepage.
0:34.6	Today's episode is sponsored by EY Blockchain. Ernst & Young is committed to supporting
0:39.8	integration of the world's business ecosystems on the public Ethereum blockchain.
0:45.0	The Crypto.com app lets you buy, earn and spend crypto all in one place.
0:49.9	Earn up to 8.5% interest on your Bitcoin and 14% interest on your stablecoins.
0:56.0	Paid weekly, download the Crypto.com app and get $25 with the code,
1:00.8	Laura. The link is in the description.
1:04.2	Kuiper's dynamic market maker, DMM, is the first DeFi protocol designed to adapt to market
1:10.4	conditions to optimize fees, maximize returns and enable extremely high capital efficiency for
1:17.2	liquidity providers. Today's topic, due to the recent events that Tesla would stop accepting
1:24.7	Bitcoin as payment, because of its environmental impact, is going to be Bitcoin, Fiat currencies
1:30.0	and their energy footprints. Here to discuss the issue, our Alex Gladstein Chief Strategy Officer
1:35.8	of the Human Rights Foundation and James McGuinness, CEO and co-founder of David Energy.
1:40.8	Welcome, Alex and David. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us.
1:45.5	So Alex, you've been on the show before, but why don't you briefly describe what it is that you
1:49.7	do and how you came to research and compare Fiat currencies in particular, the petrodollar
	...

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