Green Coins: 5 of the Most Eco-Friendly Cryptos Elon Musk Should Consider Now

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With crypto becoming an inescapable asset class, there’s 24/7 chatter around what coins and tokens are worth your money. This also means the investing landscape is constantly changing. Today, investors are chattering around what coin and tokens are the best for the environment. As the energy consumption of cryptocurrencies comes to light, green coins are becoming more and more sought after.

A Bitcoin (BTC) coin sitting on a mossy piece of wood.

Source: Shutterstock

Elon Musk has spurred along the conversation around crypto and the environment greatly in the last day. The billionaire entrepreneur announced back in February that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) would accept Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) as a payment method, and that the company had invested $1.5 billion in the currency as well.

Musk has obviously taken into account the massive energy consumption of Bitcoin computation. Mining and transactions take an unfathomable amount of energy.

With all this in mind, Musk did a 180 on his original plan.

Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin, and the company will be holding onto its Bitcoin assets until the environmental costs of the currency goes down.

Green Coins: 5 Bitcoin Alternatives Tesla Could Choose

Musk need not worry about not having any alternatives; there is a newly popular class of cryptocurrencies that are putting low-energy consumption at the forefront of their business models.

Maybe Tesla should keep its eyes on a crypto like Cardano (CCC:ADA-USD). Cardano is one of the largest cryptos in terms of market capitalization. It also is a much more efficient alternative to Bitcoin, thanks to its proof of stake consensus, rather than BTC’s proof of work consensus, which takes much less computing power to complete a transaction.

Even more efficient is Stellar Lumens (CCC:XLM-USD) a currency that subverts proofs entirely by authenticating transactions through set trustworthy nodes. The result is a crypto that uses even less energy. Another green crypto that chooses to stay away from proof algorithms is Nano (CCC:NANO-USD). With Nano, users elect their own representatives to work to authenticate blocks on the chain securely.

Coins like Chia (CCC:XCH-USD) are appealing options in that mining them is very accessible. One can earn Chia simply by allotting space on their computer’s hard drive for the network to run. The innovative play allows one to mine coins on a single computer using spare space, a welcome change to the gigantic computer rigs required to mine Bitcoin.

Even more in touch with the environment are coins like BitGreen (CCC:BITG-USD). BitGreen uses a governance-funded protocol, where “miners” earn their tokens by doing environmentally friendly activities. Recycling electronics or using a BikeShare program within one’s community can net them BitGreen. It also helps crypto bulls escape from the detrimental effects of major cryptocurrencies.

On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Brenden Rearick is a Financial News Writer for InvestorPlace’s Today’s Market team. He mainly covers digital assets and tech stocks, with a focus on crypto regulation and DeFi.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2021/05/green-coins-5-of-the-most-eco-friendly-cryptos-elon-musk-should-consider-now/.

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