By PAGE Editor

Most aspects of our everyday life are making the change to a sustainable future, including fashion. One recent trend that has touted itself as the future of banking and finance is cryptocurrency. You may have even invested in it yourself.

Yet its carbon footprint is reportedly vast, raising issues about just how future-proof it is. As cryptocurrencies become more widespread in business and retail, how sustainable are cryptocurrencies and can they work alongside fashion?

What Are Cryptocurrencies and How Popular Are They?

Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that can be used to buy or trade. They do not have a central authority, meaning they are decentralized. This means anyone can send these digital currencies around the globe instead of using banks or giving physical currency to someone else. They have several advantages, such as being extremely secure and allowing transactions to pass with full transparency. 

These currencies are volatile and were extremely popular over the last few years before a drop in value. Yet they continue to be used extensively, and can now be used for a range of goods and services. There are fully functioning crypto gambling sites online that let you play table games and slots, all paid for with your cryptocurrency. Some will even have games specifically tailored to those who pay in crypto.  In certain countries, you can even use it to pay for the cinema and do your grocery shopping with it. 

In the world of fashion, it has been used in several applications. This has mainly been in the process of verifying where goods are made and supplied, due to its logging of financial transactions. There are also now several high fashion brands that accept cryptocurrency payments for their goods. 

How Sustainable is Cryptocurrency? 

It is not easy to argue the sustainable credentials of cryptocurrency. This is due to how it is made. Crypto is made through a process called mining, which requires complex mathematical computations. This takes up a lot of energy and requires large servers to complete. 

Even a transaction using Bitcoin uses the same average amount of energy as a US household per annum. To put it in perspective, it is estimated that the use of Bitcoin expends the same amount of energy, per hour, as the country of Finland.  

Can Cryptocurrency Be Sustainable?

Source: Unsplash

Those who create cryptocurrency have begun to address this. Green energy sources for the creation of crypto have been looked into. This has been done through offsetting using carbon credits and sequestration. Iberdrola is one company that is making the process of crypto mining easier, cutting down the energy needed. 

The outcomes of cryptocurrency must also be taken into account. In some cases, the means may justify the end. If it can help industries, such as the fashion industry, stream down processes that cut energy themselves, it could be worth it or at least make it carbon neutral.  

The counterargument is that many people may not want cryptocurrency to be energy efficent. This gives it value, and the high costs and difficulty are why it is scarce. Yet this could also stave off the mainstream use crypto users desire so much. It is a complex problem, but if cryptocurrencies are to be accepted into everyday use, particularly in the future of fashion, then going green is a top priority.  

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