China’s bitcoin mining is threatening its climate change targets, study says

China’s bitcoin mining is threatening its climate change targets, study says

China could end up exceeding its emissions reduction targets as a result of carbon-intensive bitcoin mining, according to a study published this week.Some 75% of the world's bitcoin mining is done in China, where there is cheap electricity and relatively easy access to manufacturers who make specialized hardware, according to the study. As a result, the nation's bitcoin carbon footprint is as big as one of its ten largest cities, the paper claims.Unlike most forms of currency “” issued by a single entity like a central bank “” bitcoin is based on a decentralized network and needs to be "mined."This takes place when bitcoin transactions, recorded on a public ledger called the blockchain, are "verified" by miners. These miners run purpose-built computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles that effectively allow a bitcoin transaction to happen; the miners then receive bitcoin as a reward.This mining on computers uses vast amounts of electricity, especially when conducted on a large scale.The research on China's mining activities “” published by peer-reviewed journal Nature Communications on Tuesday “” was conducted by academics from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, Cornell University and the University of Surrey.

It comes despite rhetoric from China that