Ripple CEO Partners With Climate Groups To Change Bitcoin Code

Bitcoin is about to face a fresh attack over its negative environmental footprint. Several climate activists groups, including Greenpeace and crypto billionaire Cris Larsen, are launching a campaign called “Change the Code, Not the Climate.”

Cryptocurrency mining has received widespread criticism over the years because of the huge energy needed to conduct the activity. The criticisms have caused the world’s second-largest crypto Ethereum (ETH), which was originally built on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm, to launch significant efforts toward transitioning to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model.

Notably, Bitcoin developers can also choose to transition the network from a PoW model to a PoS consensus.

In addition, the campaign was designed to pressure the Bitcoin community to alter the way it orders transactions that already consume as much power as Sweden. The campaign has already reached out to a dozen key people and corporations.

According to Michael Brune, the person in charge of the campaign, some of them are involved in Bitcoin and yet pledging Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) compliance.

Meanwhile, Ripple Co-founder Chris Larsen has committed $5 million to the cause. The funds will be used to buy ad spaces across leading media outlets globally and will commence publication by next month.

Larsen said:

If I was concerned about Bitcoin as a competitor, probably the best thing I could do is let it continue on this path. This is just an unsustainable path.

Aside from the media ad publication, other climate activist groups are also collaborating on the initiative as they have begun rallying their members to undertake more intense grassroots efforts.