Digital assets blamed for impact on climate

A bitcoin mining data centre

A bitcoin mining data centre in North Texas. Concerns are rising about the energy intensive process needed to mine cryptos. PHOTO | AFP

Concerns are mounting over the energy consumption, environmental pollution and greenhouse gas emissions arising from the mining and trade of digital assets.

Available statistics indicate that crypto assets gobble between 120 and 240 billion kilowatt hours of electrical energy annually, way more than the total energy consumed across East Africa, currently estimated at 25.17 billion kilowatt hours (kWh).