Fortress Group CEO Says Bitcoin Not An Environment Hazard

Ross Stevens, the CEO of multi-billion dollar asset management firm Fortress Investment Group in a recent interview refuted all claims of Bitcoin being an environmental hazard, a FUD that was debunked three years ago and has started doing rounds again recently. Stevens said that being an environmentalist he would have never invested in the asset if that was the case. He said,

“I am an environmentalist and my primary focus is climate change. I would NOT be involved in #Bitcoin if I thought it was bad for the environment.”

Stevens went on to claim that Bitcoin has become the biggest catalyst for clean energy mining.

This 👇🏼 https://t.co/2KJIEazSrI

— Mike Novogratz (@novogratz) April 19, 2021

The Bitcoin Energy FUD first surfaced back in 2018 which gave the infamous comparisons such as “Bitcoin consumes more energy than Texas” and similarly many other exaggerated implications of Bitcoin mining. However, a deep dive into the source of the FUD revealed that all such studies trace back to a blog published in 2018. Although the debunking of the FUD revealed that the majority of Bitcoin mining is done using surplus clean energy generated by hydro powerplants.

Why the FUD Now?

Bitcoin in 2021 has gone mainstream as some of the biggest Wall Street critics and hedge fund managers have gone back on their criticism to add Bitcoin to their portfolio. The growing popularity of Bitcoin seems to be the key reason behind the old-age FUD. When compared against the energy consumption of Gold mining and traditional banking system, Bitcoin energy use seems just a blip on the map

As explained by Stevens Bitcoin is not just environment friendly it is responsible for starting a mining revolution using clean energy. Most Bitcoin mining is concentrated in Chinese provinces where hydroelectricity is available in plenty and at subsidized rates and many new governments including Afghanistan and Iran are now looking to offer subsidized mining zones to attract more miners to their country.

The other FUD about mining energy being wasted is also far-fetched since proof-of-work offers the Bitcoin network its security and decentralized nature of mining. Mo