Opponents of cryptocurrency often cite the high energy costs associated with mining, forgetting that gold mining produces a similar amount of CO2 emissions. BitGreen wants to change this.
A purpose-built blockchain to reimagine energy
BitGreen is a company ánd a blockchain. So far, nothing new under the sun, you might think, but BitGreen could well become the fly in the ointment of the current crypto movement. The people behind it are positioning BitGreen as a blockchain that's purpose-built for impact, ready to reimagine financial inclusion, energy, and human potential.
We talked exclusively to Adam Carver, CEO of .BitGreen
There is a lot of talk these days about Open versus Closed Blockchain? How would you explain this?
Adam Carver: 'In our context, open can be seen as permissionaless and public. In other words the code is open-sourced, copies of the ledger are available for anyone to view, and initiatives can be freely built atop our chain. A closed blockchain is either permissioned, meaning the admins give permission to users and potential collaborators, or is closed altogether.'
Adam Carver, CEO of BitGreen
And how would you describe the crypto market in terms of Purpose-Built Vs General and how do you see this compared to BitGreen?
Carver: 'We believe that a broad, general purpose blockchain is not tenable at this point. Ethereum is a case in point, having had to resort to side chains and a future roadmap of shards. A purpose-built blockchain is a blockchain that focuses on a particular sector or competence, inviting for relevant projects to build on top of it. In our case, we’re a purpose-built blockchain built for purpose. This means a few things:
Our entire team and all our resources are dedicated to unlocking the potential blockchain has for impact.
Our chain has been designed with a set of pallets specifically meant to enable impact initiatives to be easily integrated as Decentralized applications
Aside from our own Dapps, our growing team invites mission-aligned organizations looking to utilize blockchain to connect with us. We are actively building alongside our partners to ensure they’re able to take advantage of the protocol and our budding ecosystem.
Do activities such yield farming, liquidity providing, NFTs, volunteerism, community projects, and elections, which have nothing in common, all belong on the same chain?
Carver: 'That is a question that very much depends on who you ask. In general blockchains are flexible, putting a set of applications on a blockchain that targets the same audience makes sense as it allows users to feel at home. We are confident that, while we may be clever enough to think through novel use cases for impact on blockchain, the wider community can bring far more ideas And given the robust nature of our substrate blockchain, why put in artificial hurdles? Yield farming becomes impactful if the proceeds are dedicated to microfinance.
Let say, they don't belong on the same chain... who decides this?
Carver: 'At least for BitGreen, we intend to rollout a comprehensive governance framework that rests power squarely on the BitGreen community. Proposals will be made and voted on by holders of the BitGreen tokens. Representation will be designed so that all stakeholders will have voice and agency.
How does Polkadot, with whom you are partnering, think we should solve this problem?
Carver: 'Polkadot’s innovation is the ecosystem of blockchains concept, whereby Polkadot can be seen as a layer-0 of sorts, enabling purpose-built layer-1 chains to share security and support each other’s mission. Polkadot’s SDK framework, Substrate, can be used for pretty much any form of blockchain present. In fact, Substrate blockchains do not even need to communicate with the larger polkadot ecosystem.'
How do you think, we can we lower the environmental impact in the short and long run?
Carver: 'By building a blockchain using proof of stake, or similar consensus mechanism that don’t require egregious use of electricity, blockchain projects can get off the ground with only a de minimis fraction of the electricity needed for a proof of work project. However, we believe that the POS vs. POW argument distracts from the real issue at hand, which is about what crypto can do for impact and sustainability. Crypto can play a meaningful role in realigning economic prosperity with environmental and social justice through new incentivization structures that puts real value to those ‘externalities’ crucial to our survival.'
'When there’s a price to carbon, and a healthy market that enables billions of dollars to be deployed, whether for altruistic or speculative reasons, you have alignment of interests. When collecting plastic can be compensated and lead to banking the unbanked, while establishing verification and provenance of the collected refuse as it goes through the process of transformation to building materials, there’s real trust being built in the recycling system. These are just a couple of the many use cases enabled by blockchain technology.'
How can we make sure we get people on the same page? A lot of folks out there want to make a lot of money quick, they - in all honesty - don't really care about the social and environmental impact
Carver: 'Money goes where money is - your assumption is absolutely correct. In general I think this is not unique to crypto. Greenwashing is indeed rampant, while speculation and the fix for the quick buck is addictive. There isn’t a lightswitch one can turn to turn speculators into altruists through their own internal volition. However, we are able to align incentives to the point where a positive act can occur irrespective of the motivations. If we can close the 50T funding gap to solve for the SDGs by 2030, it may be nice to know that we achieved this feat through tapping into the altruism of the investors. But frankly, given the tall order we have to fill and the lack of time we have to do so, it isn’t really the priority. In this case, perfect may indeed be the enemy of good.'
