A new study by Traders of Crypto reveals the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies, according to CO2 emissions and electricity consumption. Additionally, the all-in-one site for news and insight on crypto, also provides tips on how to cut your crypto carbon footprint.
The top 10 coins using the least energy annually:
Rank | Eco Coin | Energy Use in KWh per year |
1 | Cardano | 48,851 |
2 | Algorand | 70,237 |
3 | Avalanche | 113,249 |
4 | Flow | 180,000 |
5 | Tezos | 489,311 |
6 | Polkadot | 512,671 |
7 | Stellar | 598,755 |
8 | Terra | 790,000 |
9 | Fantom | 1,137,776 |
10 | Solana | 3,186,000 |
The top 10 coins with the lowest Co2 emissions:
Rank | Eco Coin | Annual tons of Co2 |
1 | Fantom | 7 |
2 | Terra | 20 |
3 | Stellar | 37 |
4 | Polkadot | 50 |
5 | Tezos | 80 |
6 | RIPPLE | 300 |
7 | Avalanche | 340 |
8 | Algorand | 360 |
9 | Cardano | 400 |
10 | Polygon | 700 |
- The highest valued eco–friendly crypto is Cardano. Cardano functions mainly as a digital currency through its token ADA and had a market cap of $38,054,391,213 in 2021. The Cardano blockchain, like many other eco–friendly cryptocurrencies, operates on a proof-of-stake mechanism, a greener alternative to the power-hungry proof-of-work protocols used by Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Polkadot ranked second among the highest valued eco coins, with a market cap of $29,845,818,892. RIPPLE came in third, recording a market cap of $25,006,533,342 last year.
- Algorand was found to have the second lowest energy consumption, only using 70,237 kilowatt-hours per year, while Avalanche takes third place.
IOTA is the most energy-efficient cryptocurrency per transaction thanks to its innovative distributed ledger technology known as Tangle. IOTA is followed by MetaHash and Tezos in second and third.
Tips to cut your crypto carbon footprint:
Many investors see cryptocurrency as a great way to protect against skyrocketing inflation when interest rates remain low. But with the exponential growth of ethical investing, some cryptocurrencies are increasingly coming under scrutiny for the amount of energy they use to operate. With this in mind here are some tips to cut your crypto carbon footprint without sacrificing profit.
If you are willing to move away from more established energy-intensive cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, investing in newer eco-friendly alternatives is an increasingly viable option. These smaller projects often outperform Bitcoin in terms of growth. Cardano for example has a growth rate of 184.9 per cent, marginally outperforming Ethereum’s 183.7 per cent and over 100 per cent more than the most popular and carbon-intensive currency, Bitcoin.
One way to shrink your environmental impact is to invest in blockchain companies that focus on clean energy goals. The blockchain company Efforce, for example, invests in energy-efficiency projects, tokenises the energy saved as the cryptocurrency WOZX and distributes a share of these tokens to investors.
Investing in cryptocurrencies that use proof-of-stake protocols can also cut down your carbon footprint. Proof-of-stake uses far less computing power than other protocols as there are fewer participants in the network, meaning less energy is used and less e-waste is generated to validate transactions.
You can also cut their carbon footprint by putting their money into carbon offset tokens. Connecting carbon offsetting to cryptocurrency tokens means you can buy carbon credits from companies in order to fund carbon recapture projects. These offsets for cryptocurrencies could drive up demand and prices, meaning more money for investors and carbon reduction initiatives.
