The company behind the Firefox internet browser, Mozilla, is trying to appease its environmentally conscious community by accepting only proof-of-stake (PoS) crypto donations.
The company initially stopped all crypto donations in January, but has now reopened them after a review period to gauge community sentiment and conduct research on the use of crypto energy.
An update to our policy on accepting cryptocurrency donations.
We made mistakes, we listened to you and we have evolved. https://t.co/0bSThVJsCC
-Mozilla (@mozilla) April 7, 2022
PoS blockchains consume less than 1% of the electricity than Bitcointhough they vary from one another in efficiency as a February report shows.
Mozilla announced in a Blog that after a review, it was changing its donations policies to be in line with its "climate commitments". He said that: โMozilla will no longer accept 'Proof of Work' cryptocurrencies, which consume more power.
โProof-of-work cryptocurrencies can significantly increase our GHG emission [greenhouse gas] footprint due to its energy-intensive nature.
The company also said the move was made based on its self-imposed climate from January 2021. commitments whose goal is to โsignificantly reduce our greenhouse gas footprint year after yearโ until it is carbon neutral.
"Mozilla's decision not to accept proof-of-work donations ensures that our fundraising activities remain aligned with our emissions commitment."
By rejecting all non-PoS cryptocurrencies, Mozilla is blocking both Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, and Ether (ETH) - at least until the Merger takes place in the coming months and that blockchain adopts PoS.
Mozilla stated that it would publish a list of accepted cryptocurrencies by the end of Q2 2022. Some popular PoS chain native coins include BNB Chain (bnb), solana (SUN) and Avalanche (AVAX).
Among the main detractors of Mozilla's new cryptocurrency donation policy was Mozilla's own founder, Jamie Zawinski. The tweeted on Jan. 4 that those at Mozilla who are complicit in accepting Bitcoin โshould be terribly ashamedโ of associating themselves with โplanet-incinerating ponzi scammers.โ Zawinski left Mozilla in 1999.
The director of digital strategy at US investment firm VanEck Gabor Gurbacs strongly criticized Mozilla's decision to block Bitcoin donations. On an April 12 cheephe called the move โmisguided and virtuous in nature,โ adding that โBitcoin is one of the greenest industries out there.โ
While Bitcoin annually consumes around 204.5 terawatt hours (TWh) of energy according to data from blockchain researchers at Digiconomist, the real effect on the climate is much more questionable. Advocates counter that miners securing the grid are helping to strengthen power grids and improve carbon efficiency, while the operations themselves are increasingly switching to renewable energy.
What reported by Cointelegraph last month, flexible data centers can be used for Bitcoin mining. Flexible data centers can switch between self-generated green power and tapping into the public grid to reduce overall environmental impact and stress on the public power grid.
Related: Marathon Digital moves Montana BTC mine to seek carbon neutrality
Crypto storage company Blockstream and Jack Dorsey's Bitcoin development company Block Inc announced on April 8 that they would work with Elon Musk's Tesla to build a solar powered BTC mining facility in Texas, the new hotbed for clean energy mining operations.
Post navigation
