The latest Bitcoin news talks about BlackRock stake as a shareholder in several North American mining companies, which actually represents old news dated June 2021.
In fact, at the end of the second quarter of that year, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission report, BlackRock held the same current equity stakes related to the companies Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain
Meanwhile, the media criticize the hedge fund’s exposure to high Co2-emitting practices, claiming that the pollution produced by Bitcoin mining is disproportionate.
The reality, however, is quite different.
Full details below.
Summary
Bitcoin news: old news regarding BlackRock’s stake in North American mining companies
In the last few hours, most of the Bitcoin news talk about a new alleged participation of BlackRock within 4 cryptocurrency mining companies as the second largest shareholder by shares held.
The news has been making the rounds on the web since a few months ago the same investment fund, which manages assets of more than $10 trillion, had formally submitted an application for approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF to market regulators in the United States.
The New York-based company and its CEO Larry Fink reportedly praised the qualities of the cryptocurrency several times to the point of calling it “digital gold.”
BlackRock’s positivism toward Bitcoin has culminated in this news, spread by GreenPeace USA, which speaks of the hedge fund’s massive exposure to various mining companies such as Marathon Digital Holdings and Riot Blockchain.
In detail, the shares held in these companies, as well as those related to Cipher Mining and TeraWulf, would make BlackRock the second leading equity firm in this context.
In the image below we find the equity shares calculated as a percentage of the total supply of the 4 cryptocurrency mining providers.
However, no media spreading the news noticed the fact that as early as June 2021 BlackRock was already accounting for these holdings, disclosed by a filing published with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Indeed, in the old report and in the old Forbes testimonials, it can be clearly seen that the current shareholdings are the same as in 2021.Â
Most likely the dissemination of this news taken out of its context was intended by some players trying to manipulate the cryptocurrency market for personal gain.
There are even those who enjoy shooting random numbers claiming that the asset management fund’s investment would be worth $600 million when in reality it corresponds to just over $250 million.
The figure, while it still seems very high, is not that big when compared to the AUM managed by BlackRock, which is the largest fund in the world under these terms.
Bitcoin’s energy sustainability issue magnified by the media: the reality is quite different
While old news is coming back into vogue for no reason within online circles, there are those who continue to incriminate Bitcoin mining by claiming that it is a high Co2-emitting practice in which BlackRock is heavily involved.
GreenPeace USA reports that companies such as BlackRock, Fidelity, Vanguard, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Visa, Mastercard, and American Express are reportedly investing in the climate pollution produced by Bitcoin and its mining processes.
Unfortunately, the news outlet did not put the global carbon dioxide emission data in context, weighed against the relevant economic sector.
In fact, if we analyze the August 2023 data published by the Bitcoin Mining Council, a well-known association of miners committed to disseminating best practices for sustainable cryptocurrency mining, we find that the situation is not as bad as described.
In total, Bitcoin produces 0.135% of the world’s Co2 output with a notable difference from the most dominant industries on a global scale.
In fact, crypto mining pollutes 76 times less than the residential construction sector, 19 times less than the military sector, and 14 times less than the financial/insurance sector.
The work of miners would even pollute less than current physical gold mining processes.
According to data from the association, the creation of which was strongly advocated by Elon Musk and Michael Saylor (Executive Chairman of Microstrategy), the sustainable energy mix used to extract so-called “digital gold” is greater than that adopted by many nations that pride themselves on being “eco-friendly.”
In fact, the renewable energy mix implemented by miners around the world is higher than that recorded by Germany, South Korea, the United States, Canada, and many other countries.
Unfortunately, mainstream narratives continue to place blame on Bitcoin for its alleged energy impact, without considering 3 factors that are fundamental to fully understanding this matter:
- Bitcoin mining drives the spread and use of renewable energy sources because the payoff to miners is greater when they use clean energy rather than fossil fuels;
- while having to note a net energy consumption of 348 TWh for cryptocurrency mining, there is to consider what are the positive effects produced by Bitcoin such as financial freedom and the creation of a parallel economy detached from central banks;
- To solve the world’s REAL pollution problems it would be enough to focus on the construction and transportation sectors.
