Both Ripple and Larsen have a motive to confuse regulators into thinking that Bitcoin and Ripple are similarly structured, by fallaciously claiming Bitcoin could also be controlled by 30 wealthy influencers and developers — even if this is clearly not the case. It is for this reason that the Change The Code campaign looks not only to be a futile effort and a foolish misunderstanding of Bitcoin’s governance, but rather a full attack on Bitcoin to benefit Ripple.
Change The Code’s Widely Debunked Study
Change The Code’s website falsely claims that Bitcoin could single-handedly drive up global temperatures by 2ºC. This fallacious and sensationalist claim comes from a thrice-debunked study (Mora, et al. , 2018) published in the journal Nature Climate Change .
The Mora et al . paper is complete nonsense and makes egregious errors with preposterous assumptions . In the same journal, three teams refuted the dubious methodology. One group wrote , “we argue that the Mora et al . scenarios are fundamentally flawed and should not be taken seriously by researchers, policymakers, or the public.” (Masanet, et al. , 2019). For a comprehensive rebuttal of Mora et al ., read Nic Carter’s thorough debunking of the paper.
The reality is that Bitcoin has a tiny environmental footprint. In fact, it’s so tiny that it pales in comparison with other industries.
For perspective, the $500B global sports industry has been estimated to produce three times the emissions of Bitcoin, for far less value.
The deceptive tactics used by the Change The Code campaign implies that environmentalism is not its true goal. Millions of dollars from a conflicted billionaire and a slew of articles in the mainstream media — scrutinizing a tiny fraction of a percent of global emissions — suggest that moral panic is being promoted for ulterior motives. One would have to have seriously misaligned priorities to think that this campaign was a good use of time and money, when changing Bitcoin’s code will have no meaningful impact on the climate. Climate researchers who are doing serious work should be disheartened by such pointless and disingenuous endeavors .
A Better Solution
There are better ways to responsibly green Bitcoin, without resorting to coercive changes that would put Bitcoin’s immutability and censorship-resistance at risk. Troy Cross and Andrew M. Bailey have authored a paper on “incentive offsets ,” a way for investors to make bitcoin holdings carbon neutral by voluntarily investing just 0.5% of their holdings in green bitcoin mining operations. Their approach preserves the fungibility of bitcoin and costs nothing, while providing a return and promoting human progress. The concept was discussed, in-depth, on an episode of “What Bitcoin Did” and during a follow-up conversation with Nic Carter .
Environmentalist Sellouts
Ironically, Greenpeace should know a thing or two by now about the value of immutable savings and the need for uncensorable money that can’t be controlled by powerful individuals. Internal documents have shown evidence of Greenpeace’s own financial mismanagement and disarray . In 2015, the government of India froze the environmental group’s funds , something Bitcoin would have prevented thanks to proof-of-work.
By selling out to Larsen’s campaign, which would benefit Ripple’s case with the SEC, Greenpeace has irreparably damaged its reputation. In this heartfelt thread by Daniel Batten, a supporter of Greenpeace for over four decades, expresses his disgust over Greenpeace’s actions:
The EWG is also no stranger to scare-mongering tactics and junk science . It has a long history of exaggerating concerns and cherry-picking data for its own self-interest.
Change The Code is advised by Michael Brune, the former Executive Director of the Sierra Club who resigned last year amid allegations that the organization’s culture tolerated race, gender and sexual abuses . It is unclear if the campaign’s participants actually understand how Bitcoin’s governance works and seek to intentionally misleading the public, or if they are genuinely confused and unwitting useful idiots .
The most disappointing aspect of the Change The Code campaign is not that it’s a pointless and futile attempt to attack Bitcoin while confusing the general public and the US legal system. Rather, it’s that the campaign makes it painfully obvious that organizations like Greenpeace and EWG are willing to funnel millions of dollars into moral panic and fake environmental causes that slander individuals, when that money, time and effort could be better spent on solving actual problems that could make a real difference in society. It’s campaigns like this one that leads people to lose trust in major organizations and institutions. And that, in turn, causes people to lose faith in environmental causes.
Bitcoin will not and cannot be changed by powerful individuals. Not by Ripple, not by Greenpeace, not by EWG and certainly not by the dozens of influential people Larsen attempts to target with his misinformation campaign. Bitcoin incentivizes human flourishing and abundance , and its users have no interest in changing the code .
It’s time to plug in your full node and secure your unalienable rights — we have real work to do.
This is a guest post by Level39. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
