This year’s global heat wave has prompted the United States to consider declaring a climate emergency. For investors an eco-friendly cryptocurrency may be a safe option within the space if such an emergency is declared, The Motley Fool reports.

According to the news outlet, Cardano may be the best possible solution out there, as it’s a top-10 cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The cryptocurrency has prided itself on being eco-friendly and for being committed to sustainability, even before talks of a climate emergency being declared emerged.

As a result, the report adds, Cardano is “uniquely positioned to withstand a climate emergency.” It details that a new regulatory risk is emerging for the cryptocurrency industry, as Proof-of-Work cryptoassets consuming a lot of energy could soon be cracked down on.

As an example, it pointed to the European Central Bank revealing in a research article it might place a ban on Bitcoin mining as part of its crackdown on fossil fuel usage. Moreover, carbon taxes may be introduced on crypto transactions.

Last year, electric car maker Tesla stopped accepting Bitcoin payments over environmental reasons while maintaining most of BTC it bought after making a $1.5 billion investment in the flagship cryptocurrency. The company sold 75% of its BTC holdings earlier this year.

As the threat of a climate emergency being declared looms, some blockchains, like Algorand, are making being green a part of their marketing efforts. Cardano, however, has always been a green blockchain.

As CryptoGlobe reported, earlier this year a reforestation effort launched by Cardano reached its initial goal of planting one million trees “of different species native to areas across different parts of Madagascar, Indonesia, Nepal, Kenya, Senegal and Haiti.”

Cardano uses a Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm that does not rely on energy-consuming equipment to create new coins and validate transactions. Instead, it relies on validators who stake their assets for the right to validate transactions and earn rewards.

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of Cardano, has also recently defended a sensible approach to crypto regulations.

As reported, data shown on Coinbase’s price pages shows Cardano’s ADA has a typical hold time of 153 days, meaning that ADA users on the platform hold onto their assets for that long before “selling it or sending it to another account or address.”

According to the cryptocurrency exchange, a long hold time “signals an accumulation trend,” while a short hold time “indicates increased movement of tokens.” Notably, Coinbase launched ADA staking back in March, with the current staking APY at the time being around 3.75%.

Cardano has recently become one of the top 10 holdings of whales n the BNB Chain (which was formerly known as the Binance Smart Chain) as investors are betting on the cryptocurrency ahead of its highly anticipated Vasil hard fork.

 The Vasil hard fork is a major upgrade that will involve four Cardano Improvement Proposals (CIPs). Cardano creator Charles Hoskison has said the hard fork will deliver a “massive performance improvement.”

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Featured image via Pixabay

The current global heat wave has prompted all kinds of talk about a climate emergency. This is potentially big news not just for industries that have been directly linked to climate change — such as the oil and gas industry — but also for industries only tangentially related, such as crypto. After all, crypto has been coming under increasing scrutiny by regulators for its energy consumption habits. As a result, it’s time to think about climate-proofing your crypto portfolio.

The best place to start is with a green, eco-friendly cryptocurrency like Cardano (ADA -0.39%), which also happens to be one of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the world by market capitalization. Even before the latest debate about climate ever started, it prided itself on its eco-friendly blockchain and commitment to sustainability. As a result, Cardano is uniquely positioned to withstand a climate emergency. 

A new kind of regulatory risk

The crypto industry has always functioned under a high degree of regulatory risk. But now it’s facing a new one. What happens, for example, if regulatory agencies and other government authorities start enacting climate-related executive orders to regulate, restrict, or limit certain industries? In mid-July, for example, the European Central Bank (ECB) warned that it might place a ban on Bitcoin (BTC 0.35%) mining as part of a broader crackdown on fossil fuels. It might also introduce carbon taxes on crypto transactions. The ECB compared Bitcoin to a “fossil fuel car,” primarily based on Bitcoin’s well-known energy consumption problem.

As a result, the race is now on to prove one’s green credentials and avoid the wrath of the government bureaucracy. Bitcoin miners, for example, are now struggling to prove that they don’t rely on fossil fuels for their energy. They certainly don’t want regulators thinking that Bitcoin mining has anything to do with traditional coal mining! And some cryptocurrencies are now making “green blockchain” a core part of their marketing outreach efforts. Algorand, for example, now claims to have a carbon-negative blockchain.

Cardano is eco-friendly

By nearly any yardstick, Cardano is one of the most eco-friendly, environmentally sustainable cryptocurrencies in existence. In contrast to Bitcoin, which uses proof of work to solve complex math problems and receive new coins, Cardano is proof of stake, in which users pledge their coins for the right to validate transactions and earn more coins. And that makes all the difference. Because Cardano does not rely on energy-intensive mining that uses thousands of powerful computers, that immediately reduces its carbon footprint. In fact, some Cardano backers say that it is now 37,500 times more energy efficient than Bitcoin. 

As the ECB acknowledged when it was talking about banning Bitcoin, pure proof-of-stake blockchains like Cardano are the “electric vehicles” of the crypto world. The same governments that want to encourage you to buy electric cars will also want you to buy eco-friendly cryptocurrencies. That argument is going to go a long way for cryptocurrencies like Cardano that can prove their green credentials.

Cardano vs. the government regulator

Finally, one of the co-founders of Cardano, Charles Hoskinson, is one of the best-known voices advocating for the crypto industry in Washington, D.C., right now. He knows exactly how the regulatory game is played, which is something that could prove vital if the climate emergency narrative intensifies and the Biden White House starts passing a number of executive orders. This summer, media outlets praised Hoskinson after his testimony in front of Congress, in which he eloquently argued for a more rational approach to crypto regulation. This is the type of person you want making the case against regulatory overreach.

Cardano and the green crypto future

All in all, Cardano is one of the best plays out there if you are looking to climate-proof your crypto portfolio. Its blockchain is pure proof of stake and very energy efficient, and thus, very  green. Other smaller cryptos may play up their green credentials, but Cardano is one of the biggest Layer 1 blockchains out there, with a total market capitalization of over $16 billion, making it a key building block of the green crypto future.

The government of Canada will make use of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules that can lead to seizure of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), and Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) as it grapples with widespread protests.

What Happened: The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, invoked the Emergencies Act amid protests in the capital Ottawa and on the U.S.-Canada border, reported CoinDesk.

Canada Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said banks can freeze or suspend bank accounts without a court order and without fear of civil liability.

The scope of existing anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules also extends to crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers, according to Freeland.

The changes cover all forms of transactions, including digital assets like cryptocurrencies, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, reported CoinDesk.

See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

Why It Matters: A crowdfunding platform, Tallycoin, has reportedly raised more than 20 BTC or approximately $1 million for truckers protesting COVID-19 restrictions in the country.

Our @tallycoinapp fundraising page has raised above and beyond our goal. Thank you to all contributors. @NobodyCaribou and @BJdichter are overseeing things moving forward, and any updates will be posted here. Stay tuned and follow both accounts for the latest.

— HonkHonk Hodl (@HonkHonkHodl) February 14, 2022

This is the first time the Emergencies Act has been invoked since it was passed in 1988, as per CoinDesk.

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Photo: Courtesy of Justin Trudeau via Wikimedia