The source of a major spate of bitcoin (BTC) fake news has been found. According to Daniel Batten, a bitcoin climate activist, a specific publication by Dutchman Alex de Vries in 2018 is behind the misinformation surrounding bitcoin’s energy consumption that has been circulating ever since. “We found patient zero,” Batten stated in a thread on X.
Bitcoin climate activist Batten lashes out at Dutch research
Noted bitcoin climate activist Daniel Batten has lashed out fiercely at Digiconomist founder Alex de Vries. Although Batten did not refer to any specific analysis, he has criticized in the past a May 2018 report by De Vries titled “Bitcoin’s Growing Energy Problem”.
The death of Bitcoin gaslighting in the mainstream media
Using litmaps, we can see that the origin of all junk science on Bitcoin’s environmental impact was a single commentary (not even a full length paper) by Alex de Vries
The method he used to claim that Bitcoin’s… pic.twitter.com/jn8fMYNMcN
— Daniel Batten (@DSBatten) December 12, 2024
Batten mainly criticizes the Dutch researcher’s research methods. One example of the misleading statistics is Digiconomist’s “Bitcoin Electronic Waste Monitor.” This claims that bitcoin produced 40.97 kilotons of electronic waste in the past 12 months, which would amount to 230.1 grams per transaction. Batten, however, calls this methodology “fundamentally flawed.” According to him, bitcoin’s energy consumption does not come from the number of transactions. This allows the transaction scale to grow exponentially without increasing emissions.
Digiconomist, a platform dedicated to uncovering undesirable consequences of digital trends, has since had a major impact on public opinion and policy-making around bitcoin and environmental impact. According to Batten, data from Litmaps shows that much of the news reporting and academic analysis on bitcoin’s environmental impact is harking back to de Vries’s metrics. This Batten labels as “junk science” and “bitcoin gaslighting in the mainstream media.”
Many people were misled for years,” Batten argued. “As a result, investment committees, regulators and policymakers often still do not know that 13 of the last 15 scientific studies actually support Bitcoin’s environmental benefits.
Crypto bad climate image
Batten is not the first to refute De Vries’ theory. Several scientific papers have appeared over the years that have debunked the Dutchman’s findings, including publications that have appeared in journals such as Nature.
Nevertheless, the flood of fake news has had a bad impact on the image of crypto and bitcoin mining. Emphasizing Batten said that “a lot of re-education work” is still needed before the mainstream will embrace bitcoin mining as part of the climate solution. He pointed out that major news outlets such as Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Forbes and the Financial Times are now highlighting bitcoin’s environmentally friendly benefits.
Although bitcoin has often been unfairly criticized for its environmental impact in the past, the trend now seems to be reversing thanks to thorough research and better data. The role of bitcoin in renewable energy and climate action seems to have more potential than ever, but still requires much work to be fully recognized. Now if you want to always be informed – follow us like thousands of others for free on Twitter/X.
