Category Archives: Cryptocurrency

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How To Withdraw USDT From The WhiteBIT Cryptocurrency Exchange - State-Journal.com

As the cryptocurrency market matures, more governments throughout the world are introducing legislation to tax proceeds from crypto-related activities, with traders often triggering taxable events that can lead to future complications.

Avoiding paying taxes is illegal, but there are legal ways to dodge triggering taxable events while hodling onto ones cryptocurrency holdings: Roth IRAs. These are individual retirement accounts (IRAs) with a special type of tax-advantaged system.

Using IRAs to avoid triggering taxable events with cryptocurrency investments is a strategy that has been considered for some time, with North American mining and hosting firm Compass Mining offering a solution for Bitcoin (BTC) users to mine directly to their IRAs last year.

Before diving deeper, its important to point out that Roth IRAs are only available in the United States, although other countries often have their own form of tax-advantaged investment vehicles. Often, stocks with significant exposure to Bitcoin such as MicroStrategy have to be used as a proxy for some of these vehicles.

A Roth IRA is a type of individual retirement account to which investors contribute after-tax earnings. What makes Roth IRAs stand out is that what investors place in these savings accounts can grow tax-free and be withdrawn without any other taxes being owed after theyre aged 59 , if the account has been open for at least five years.

Essentially, a Roth IRA considers that since taxes have been paid on the funds being contributed into the account, investors do not need to pay any further tax as long as they meet the specific conditions outlined above.

Roth IRAs can be funded in various ways beyond regular contributions, which have to be made in cash. Assets permitted into Roth IRA accounts include stocks, exchange-traded funds, money market funds, bonds, mutual funds and cryptocurrencies.

The Internal Revenue Service does not allow for direct cryptocurrency contributions into these accounts, but these are various Bitcoin IRA solutions that are designed for investors to save cryptocurrencies in these accounts. Its worth pointing out that yearly contributions to Roth IRAs are limited based on IRS specifications and that investors can keep Roth IRAs as long as they please, as there are no required minimum distributions.

Cryptocurrencies are known for being extremely volatile, which means they arent for every investor out there. More conservative investors will likely be happier holding bonds, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, while investors with a larger risk appetite may consider allocating to crypto.

The growth potential of cryptocurrency holdings in a portfolio is enough to lure in investors who believe cryptocurrencies will keep on growing in popularity as the infrastructure around them boosts accessibility and new crypto-related products and services are created. This growth potential, its worth pointing out, comes with heightened risk.

As tax-free withdrawals from Roth IRAs require accounts to be at least five years old, cryptocurrency investors looking to take advantage of them should always be prepared to hold onto their funds for a long time.

Chris Kline, co-founder of cryptocurrency IRA platform Bitcoin IRA, told Cointelegraph that there are no tax benefits on contributions to Roth IRA accounts, but there are tax benefits on distributions:

To Kline, cryptocurrencies are going to disrupt the very fabric of our everyday lives in ways like the internet disrupted communication and email disrupted the post office. The co-founder of Bitcoin IRA added that while real estate and gold were premier examples of diversification in the past, crypto has asserted itself as an alternative in the modern economy.

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Kline added that cryptocurrencies can offer an alternative path forward for people of all ages and that theres been a surge in interest in investing in crypto assets for diversification.

Kunal Sawhney, CEO of equity research firm Kalkine Group, seems to disagree with Klines approach. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Sawhney said that if a person has spent time and labour to earn money, it should ideally not go into extremely risky assets like cryptocurrencies.

Otherwise, he added, it defeats the idea of investing for retirement. Sawhney cautioned that cryptocurrencies arent just Bitcoin and that betting on these increases the risk that investors fall prey to Ponzi schemes.

As an investment category, he said, cryptocurrencies might not be so bad as these assets may become the biggest contributor to the overall amount in the Roth IRA when the contributor retires and plans to withdraw. Once again, their potential outsized performance is weighed against their risk.

For long-term investors expecting these outsized returns, placing cryptocurrencies in a Roth IRA lets them realize their capital gains without getting taxed, although theyll have to stomach the ups and downs for a while.

The extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies makes them a not-so-easy investment when talking about retirement, with the jury being out on whether including cryptocurrencies in a 401(k) retirement plan is sound financial planning or gambling with the future.

To Sawhney, investors need to have a predetermined strategy for their Roth IRA. The CEO noted that a 60/40 portfolio, with greater exposure to stocks than to bonds, was long considered balanced and financially rewarding but suggested cryptocurrencies are changing things:

Recent:Does the Ethereum Merge offer a new destination for institutional investors?

Due diligence, Sawhney concluded, is crucial, as Roth IRAs are often viewed as one of the best investment vehicles for young and low-income earners.

Speaking to Cointelegraph, Kevin Maloney, interim CEO at crypto retirement account provider iTrustCapital, said that volatility is actually one of the main reasons why many investors prefer using a Roth IRA or any other type of IRA to invest in crypto. He added that even day-traders could benefit:

Whether investors are looking to add cryptocurrencies to their Roth IRA accounts, its important to note that crypto assets are only available for these accounts through custodians, which may charge hefty trading fees.

Its up to every investor to analyze what type of investment vehicle best suits their situation and risk appetite. Roth IRAs may be extremely beneficial for long-term investors, as the IRS has taxed cryptocurrencies as property since 2014, and capital gains taxes can be owed on depreciated assets.

The views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

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Roth IRAs: The ideal long-term cryptocurrency investment? - Cointelegraph

Over the past 24 hours, LEO Token's LEO/USD price has fallen 5.06% to $4.44. This continues its negative trend over the past week where it has experienced a 7.0% loss, moving from $4.82 to its current price.

The chart below compares the price movement and volatility for LEO Token over the past 24 hours (left) to its price movement over the past week (right). The gray bands are Bollinger Bands, measuring the volatility for both the daily and weekly price movements. The wider the bands are, or the larger the gray area is at any given moment, the larger the volatility.

LEO Token's trading volume has climbed 100.0% over the past week, moving in tandem, directionally, with the overall circulating supply of the coin, which has increased 0.09%. This brings the circulating supply to 934.04 million. According to our data, the current market cap ranking for LEO is #20 at $4.16 billion.

Powered by CoinGecko API

This article was generated by Benzinga's automated content engine and reviewed by an editor.

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Cryptocurrency LEO Token Decreases More Than 5% Within 24 hours - Benzinga

Some scammers focus on altcoins with small market capitalizations, says an expert.DADO RUVIC/Reuters

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With cryptocurrency prices at a low ebb, investors might be tempted to put some money into these speculative assets. What should advisors tell them about the risks?

When clients want to test the water, one of the first things advisors should do is help them avoid becoming shark bait. Scammers can smell fresh chum from miles away.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commissions Consumer Protection Data Spotlight report published in June found more than 46,000 people in the U.S. alone had suffered from cryptocurrency scams since 2021, with losses totalling more than US$1-billion. Thats up from US$130-million in 2020.

The markets wild growth lured many naive investors afraid of missing out, says Greg Taylor, chief investment officer at Purpose Investments Inc. in Toronto, which offers cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

There was a greed factor that got in, he says. The hype blurred the line between investment and gambling and attracted some unsavoury characters.

When you get speculative excess, you must be wary of fraud. It happens in every bull market.

Those frauds are many and varied. In some cases, cryptocurrency exchanges themselves are guilty. In 2020, the Ontario Securities Commission described Vancouver-based exchange QuadrigaCX as a Ponzi scheme after it left users with a $169-million shortfall.

Some scammers focus on alternative coins (altcoins) with small market capitalizations, says Dragan Boscovic, research professor at Arizona State University and founder and director of its Blockchain Research Lab. These are classic targets for pump-and-dump scammers who stoke the coins reputation with social media posts.

Theres a lot of activity and the price of those assets with very low market caps and high volumes rises relatively fast, he says. Naive investors, perhaps remembering bitcoins huge growth, pile in.

Once those bad actors are satisfied, they sell all their assets and then the price goes down very quickly.

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are a variation on the theme. These token sales are typically tied to decentralized online services and promise big returns. Many have been exit scams in which the founders misused the funds and didnt deliver the promised services. Canadian and U.S. regulators have cracked down on these sales, deeming them securities.

Other scams steal assets from victims cryptocurrency wallets directly.

Michael Zagari, associate portfolio manager at Mandeville Private Client Inc. in Montreal, recalls a phishing e-mail that targeted owners of the ethereum blockchains ether coin. The perpetrators exploited a forthcoming change in the way that the ethereum cryptocurrency blockchain generates its ether coins. It told owners that they had to open access to their cryptocurrency wallets to prepare for the change. Anyone who did so had their funds stolen.

Ethereum owners didnt actually need to do anything to prepare for the change, says Mr. Zagari, but the e-mails were convincing enough to fool people unfamiliar with the technology.

Mr. Zagari says as an advisor, its his job to update clients on these developments, adding that many of his colleagues are still unprepared to guide clients on the risks of cryptocurrency investing.

They dont understand it and are avoiding the conversation, he says. Dealership compliance departments havent invested in understanding it either.

The first step for advisors in helping clients understand cryptocurrency is to educate themselves. Then, its down to a mixture of common sense and technical knowledge.

Advisors should persuade investors to understand what theyre buying rather than treating cryptocurrency as a purely speculative move, Mr. Zagari says.

Look for a solid use case. What problem is it trying to solve? he adds.

Clients should be investing in assets with high market capitalization, says Mr. Boscovic, pointing investors to well-established coins with high liquidity.

Mr. Zagari cites bitcoin and ethereum as the two go-to assets. He typically advises clients to expose no more than 5 per cent of their portfolio to direct cryptocurrency holdings.

Rather than managing the security of those assets in their own wallets, many choose to invest in a cryptocurrency ETF from companies like Purpose Investments or Evolve Funds Group Inc. These ETFs own cryptocurrencies and store them with New York-based Gemini Trust Co. LLC, a custodian that holds them in cold storage meaning the digital keys used to access the wallet are not accessible via the internet.

Mr. Zagari will also advise clients to hold a larger proportion of their assets up to 10 per cent in investments that expose them indirectly to the cryptocurrency markets. These are typically cryptocurrency services companies.

The appeal of cryptocurrency mirrors that of other disruptive technologies, Mr. Zagari points out. It offers potentially high returns.

That means you dont need a lot of cash to make a lot of money, he says.

However, its up to advisors to explain the risks involved, informed by a robust understanding of the underlying market dynamics and technology. Then, they must apply that understanding to the clients personal circumstances to factor in cryptocurrency investments as part of a broader investment strategy.

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How to avoid cryptocurrency investment scams - The Globe and Mail

Currently, the cryptocurrencies and blockchain industry are at the booming stage on the back of vast adoption globally. Despite being controversial and holding complex underlying technology, the cryptocurrency market is seen as a maturing industry with large investors parking their money in them. This market is evolving constantly!

At the 3rd edition of FICCI Leads 2022, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, the use of blockchain technology is going to rise by about 46% in the next few years.

Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX cited the latest study conducted by LinkedIn revealed that job postings containing "Cryptocurrency," "Bitcoin," or "Blockchain" increased 394% year over year from 2020 to 2021.

Menon said, "all these spikes in job opportunities happened even when there were no proper regulations or policies provided by the government. Once India has an enabling regulatory framework that recognises the true potential of Blockchain and cryptos along with the pool of developers and talent available in the country we have an opportunity to lay the foundation of the new internet, Web 3.0."

In Menon's view, crypto is where the next big gold rush is happening, and naturally, VCs worldwide are extremely interested in investing in this space.

As per a report by Galaxy Digital Research, a New York-based financial services firm, venture capitalists (VCs) have pumped in more than n $10 billion in crypto startups in the first quarter of 2022. It could be in the region of 40-50 billion dollars on an annual basis.

With the right policies, Indian entrepreneurs could create the next few crypto unicorns in Mumbai, Bangalore, and Delhi, Menon said.

Due to smartphones and super cheap data plans, content creation has accelerated in recent times in India. Menon said, "with its large audience, content platforms have tailor-made programs to attract the best creators. Like how China became the factory of the world, Indians can become the content-creating factory of the world with our knowledge of English.

According to WazirX VP, Web3 allows these creators to monetize their talent like never before - our artisans languishing in poverty can create NFTs that will appeal not only to the Indian diaspora but also to the larger western audience who are always looking out for newer, more different talents.

Blockchain technology still in its infancy has already created lots of job opportunities under Crypto, NFT, Blockchain gaming, Logistics, etc.

"All that is needed is for the policymakers to bring enabling regulations and frameworks to prevent the talents from leaving the country," Menon added.

Meanwhile, as per Amanjot Malhotra, Country Head - India, Bitay, the use of cryptocurrencies can provide a decentralized and communal approach toward job creation over a centrally-controlled and profit-driven approach.

Cryptocurrency seems to have established itself as a form of asset class, and Malhotra believes its economic impact is expected to be seen globally.

Among many areas, in which cryptocurrencies are expected to leave an impact, is also job creation, especially in India.

Bitay's India head cited Job posting platforms data which revealed job postings that are associated with terms such as cryptocurrency or blockchain have increased more than 600% since November 2015, with a 1,000% growth in searches for jobs.

Cryptocurrency jobs have increased by almost 15 times since 2019, which is a sign that organizations are looking for people with expertise in blockchain and Crypto. Blockchain Application developers, community managers, Asset managers, blockchain developers, and technical product managers, among others, are some of the many roles which could see a rise in hiring, Malhotra explained.

Malhotra believes the crypto sector will attract a lot of talent from other sectors as well as it is very attractive in terms of growth and culture. He added, "A lot of job seekers from various domains who are looking for jobs will find a lot of interesting opportunities in the cryptocurrency space."

Also, Malhotra said, "Insights from the industry have stated that the use of cryptocurrencies is expected to provide a decentralized and communal approach toward job creation over a centrally-controlled and profit-driven approach."

So far in 2022, the number of cryptocurrency job listings in the USA went up by 395%, as per a LinkedIn report.

In Malhotra's opinion, the increase in the usage of cryptocurrencies has the potential to benefit the Indian

technological industry in terms of employment. It will also show that the interest factor of working professionals in this space is high. Furthermore, jobs are being created for marketers, accountants, public policy specialists, and traders.

Finally, Malhotra concluded, "The usage of decentralized protocols and dapps such as smart contracts has the capability to help with the employment of industries such as banking and finance, real estate, and government authorities, among others."

Meanwhile, Sakina Arsiwala, Co-Founder, Taki said, "Recent regulations by governmental bodies have led some startups to feel apprehension. That said, my prediction is that there will be minimal impact felt by the overall talent pool. This stems from the fact that, while crypto as an industry is at a nascent stage, the growth rate is still very high. Amidst uncertainty, there are even greater opportunities for innovation."

Let's keep in mind that these regulations are being introduced with the motivation to protect consumers in the crypto industry. India is a top market for global companies in terms of skilled employees, Taki co-founder said.

Lastly, Arsiwala added, the Indian crypto-tech industry is expected to grow multiple times, which also reflects the forecasts that the industry will generate close to a million job opportunities.

Recently, BetterPlaces Frontline Index Report 2022, revealed that more than 8 million jobs were created in the frontline industry in FY 2022. As retail consumption bettered in the post-pandemic economy, the Q2 of FY 2022 saw a strong rise in demand for frontline workers because of a steady increase in jobs in the delivery and retail segments. E-commerce contributed the highest to the demand for frontline workers followed by logistics and mobility.

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How cryptocurrency market will help in creating job opportunities in India | Mint - Mint

Willadults that have used cryptocurrency also use DeFi to perform interest rate swaps? In a recentarticle,Simon Jones, the CEO ofVoltz Labs suggests that may be the case.

He points to aCNBC pollthat indicates that 20% of US adults report using cryptocurrencies. However, the same poll indicates that 25% of those respondents view cryptocurrencies in a negative light, casting doubt on his argument that consumers will naturally use them for interest rate swaps, said Tim Sloane, Vice President of Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group.

[It also seems that] Jones isready to see the gatekeepers of financial products and services replaced with decentralized, open and permissionless protocols, he said. These are indeed revolutionary technologies, but they are also a hotbed of criminal activity driven by the difficulty of validating the participants which makes Ponzi schemes and other criminal activities all too easy to implement. While this article identifies challenges it fails to address that smart contracts are not yet sufficiently stable or transparent enough for interest rate swaps.

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Are Interest Rate Swaps Part of The Future of Crypto? - PaymentsJournal

Redis, is a popular open source data structure tool that can be used as an in-memory distributed database, message broker or cache. The tool is not designed to be exposed on the Internet, however, researchers spotted tens thousands Redis instance publicly accessible without authentication.

The researcher Victor Zhu detailed a Redis unauthorized access vulnerability that could be exploited to compromise Redis instances exposed online.

Under certain conditions, if Redis runs with the root account (or not even), attackers can write an SSH public key file to the root account, directly logging on to the victim server through SSH. This may allow hackers to gain server privileges, delete or steal data, or even lead to an encryption extortion, critically endangering normal business services. reads the post published by Zhu on September 11, 2022.

Now researchers from Censys are warning of tens of thousands of unauthenticated Redis servers exposed on the internet that are under attack.

Threat actors are targeting these instances toinstall a cryptocurrency miner.

There are 39,405 unauthenticated Redis services out of 350,675 total Redis services on the public internet. warns Censys. Almost 50% of unauthenticated Redis services on the internet show signs of anattemptedcompromise.

The general idea behind this exploitation technique is to configure Redis to write its file-based database to a directory containing some method to authorize a user (like adding a key to .ssh/authorized_keys), or start a process (like adding a script to /etc/cron.d), Censysadds.

The experts found evidence that demonstrates the ongoing hacking campaign, threat actors attempted to store maliciouscrontab entriesinto the file /var/spool/cron/root using several Redis keys prefixed with the string backup. The crontab entries allowed the attackers to execute a shell script hosted on a remote server.

The shell script was designed to perform the following malicious actions:

The researchers used a recent list of unauthenticated Redis services running on TCP port 6379 to run a one-time scan that looked for the existence of the key backup1 on every host. Censys found thatout of the 31,239 unauthenticated Redis servers in this list, 15,526 hosts had this key set.These instance were targeted by threat actors with the technique described above.

Most of the Internet-exposed Redis servers are located in Chine (15.29%) followed by Germany (14.11%), and Singapore (12.43%).

Still, this does not mean that there are over 15k compromised hosts. It is improbable that the conditions needed for this vulnerability to be successful are in place for every one of these hosts. The primary reason many of these attempts will fail is that the Redis service needs to be running as a user with the proper permissions to write to the directory /var/spool/cron (i.e., root). concludes the report. Although, this can be the case when running Redis inside a container (like docker), where the process might see itself running as root and allow the attacker to write these files. But in this case, only the container is affected, not the physical host.

The report also includes a list of mitigation for these attacks.

Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook

PierluigiPaganini

(SecurityAffairs hacking, mining)

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Over 39K unauthenticated Redis services on the internet targeted in cryptocurrency campaign - Security Affairs

In 2021, over $300 million worth of cryptocurrencies were donated to nonprofit and charitable organizations. Thousands of nonprofits have begun accepting cryptocurrency donations, making it easy for crypto investors to donate to their favorite causes.

Charities are quickly embracing cryptocurrency. Here are the top four reasons why many organizations are tapping into this new revenue source to diversify their revenue and donor base.

Nonprofit organizations are always looking for ways to connect with younger people who can become long-term legacy donors. The average donor in the United States is 64 years old and makes two charitable gifts a year. By accepting donations and leaning into crypto fundraising efforts, nonprofits are opening the door to a younger donor demographic.

According to Pew Research, 43% of U.S. men ages 18 to 29 say they have invested in cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, only 8% of people ages 50 to 64 and 3% of people age 65 or over have dabbled in crypto. The crypto market is currently worth approximately $1 trillion at the time of writing, which means that by accepting crypto donations, nonprofits are targeting this young demographic who own a large chunk of the crypto industry's wealth.

Not only is this a younger demographic to target, but it's also a demographic with disposable income. According to Gemini, the average crypto owner makes $111k a year, meaning that they have disposable income that can be donated.

Accepting cryptocurrency donations is not just a fundraising tool, it's also a great opportunity to draw media attention and build brand awareness. Once a nonprofit accepts crypto donations, it opens the door for NFT creators looking to add a philanthropic component to their NFT projects. We've found that celebrity-endorsed NFT projects tend to draw media attention, especially when the proceeds are being donated to a good cause. By aligning with certain NFT projects, nonprofits are opening the door to a new group of potential donors and building awareness about their mission.

Did you know that crypto investors are more charitable than other types of investors? In 2020, 45% of cryptocurrency investors donated $1,000 or more to charity, while that same year, only 33% of the full investor population donated.

The Nonprofit Times reported that the average crypto donation in 2021 was $10,455. This is nearly 19 times higher than the average cash donation of $574.

For many nonprofits, deciding if and when to accept crypto donations is a big decision. We've found that those most successful with crypto fundraising have someone on their team who is digitally native and social media-savvy. It's not necessary to understand crypto in order to fundraise it, but those who have team members dedicated to ensuring that the nonprofit has an online presence are innately more successful than those who rely on old-school donation methods.

This is because the crypto community is a younger donor demographic that naturally spends more time online than the traditional 65+ donor demographic. By already having an online presence, it's easier for crypto donors to find and donate to your nonprofit.

Before deciding which crypto processing solution is best for your nonprofit, consider the following:

By asking each of these questions, you are one step closer to finding the proper crypto processing solution for your nonprofit's specific needs and embracing the emerging world of crypto philanthropy.

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Here's Why Charities Are Embracing Cryptocurrency - Newsweek

The stock market has been on a downhill slide this year, and crypto prices have also taken a tumble.

While that can be discouraging for investors, there is a silver lining: It's one of the most affordable times to buy. Most cryptocurrencies are priced at a steep discount compared to their peaks late last year, and if you've been on the fence about investing, now may be a smart time to dive in.

Choosing the right investment is critical, however. While everyone's investing preferences will be different, there's one cryptocurrency I'm loading up on in September: Ethereum (ETH 2.86%).

Ethereum has long been one of the strongest players in the crypto space, but its upcoming update, "The Merge," has many investors feeling even more optimistic.

The Merge will move Ethereum from a proof-of-work (PoW) mining protocol to proof of stake (PoS). This is an enormous undertaking, and it will reduce Ethereum's energy usage by roughly 99%.

Not only will this update help Ethereum better compete with smaller networks like Cardano and Solana (which already use a PoS protocol), but it will also set the stage for future updates to improve Ethereum's speed and transaction costs.

The Merge is already underway, with developers kicking off the first step of the update, Bellatrix, on Sept. 6. It's unclear exactly how long it will take to complete, but it's expected to finish sometime between Sept. 13-16. Once The Merge is fully rolled out, it will be the start of a new chapter for Ethereum.

Ethereum has plenty of advantages. It's the most popular network for decentralized applications (dApps) such as non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects. It's also the second- most popular cryptocurrency, with a market cap of more than $200 billion.

The Merge is a step in the right direction, but Ethereum will still face challenges. For one, this update won't solve Ethereum's most pressing issues -- namely its sluggish transaction times and high gas fees.

There is another update in the works to solve these problems, but it's not expected to happen until 2023 or 2024. While that upgrade could take Ethereum to new heights, one to two years is a long time for competitors to catch up and gain market share.

With many users and developers already frustrated by Ethereum's drawbacks, it's uncertain how much longer investors will be able to tolerate the network's slow speeds and high costs before moving to a competitor.

Whether the rewards outweigh the risks will depend largely on your personal investing preferences. Like all cryptocurrencies, Ethereum is a risky investment, and there are no guarantees that it will succeed over the long term.

Before you buy, consider how much risk you're able to tolerate, as well as how long you're willing to hold your investment. Ethereum is a long-term investment, and it will take years for it to reach its full potential. If you're willing to stick it out through the inevitable periods of volatility, it could pay off big time.

There's not necessarily a right or wrong answer as to where you should invest. Ethereum isn't perfect, but it remains one of the strongest cryptocurrencies in the field. If you believe in its long-term potential, it could be a fantastic buy right now.

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Here's My Top Cryptocurrency to Buy in September - The Motley Fool

Amid the continuous noise about cryptocurrencies, its often hard to pick out what really matters. However this month, if all goes to plan, the energy-hungry digital sector will undergo its biggest shake-up in years.

Ethereum, the worlds second largest cryptocurrency, is on Tuesday expected to start a technology changeover which, once complete, should cause its carbon emissions to plummet by 99%.

The rapid growth in cryptocurrencies in recent years has been staggering. Unfortunately, so too has been their contribution to climate change, due to the enormous amount of electricity used by computers that manage the buying and selling of crypto coins.

Take, for example, the worlds biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. At a time when the world is desperately trying to reduce energy consumption, Bitcoin uses more energy each year than medium-sized nations such as Argentina. If the Ethereum switch succeeds, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be under immense pressure to deal with this problem.

Cryptocurrencies are digital currency systems in which people make direct online payments to each other.

Unlike traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies are not managed from a single location such as a central bank. Instead, theyre managed by a blockchain: a decentralised global network of high-powered computers. These computers are known as miners.

The Reserve Bank of Australia provides this simple explanation of how it all works (edited for brevity):

Suppose Alice wants to transfer one unit of cryptocurrency to Bob. Alice starts the transaction by sending an electronic message with her instructions to the network, where all users can see the message.

The transaction sits with a group of other recent transactions waiting to be compiled into a block (or group) of the most recent transactions. The information from the block is turned into a cryptographic code and miners compete to solve the code to add the new block of transactions to the blockchain.

Once a miner successfully solves the code, other users of the network check the solution and reach an agreement that its valid. The new block of transactions is added to the end of the blockchain, and Alices transaction is confirmed.

This process, used by most cryptocurrencies, is termed proof-of-work mining. The central design feature is the use of calculations which require a lot of computer time and huge amounts of electricity to perform.

Bitcoin alone consumes around 150 terawatt-hours of electricity each year. Producing that energy emits some 65 million tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually about the same emissions as Greece.

Research suggests Bitcoin last year produced emissions responsible for around 19,000 future deaths.

The proof-of-work approach intentionally wastes energy. The data in a blockchain has no inherent meaning. Its sole purpose is to record difficult, but pointless, calculations which provide a basis for allocating new crypto coins.

Cryptocurrency advocates have given a variety of excuses for the monstrous energy consumption, but none stand up to scrutiny.

Some, for example, seek to justify cryptocurrencys carbon footprint by saying some miners use renewable energy. That may be true, but in doing so they can displace other potential energy users some of whom will have to use coal- or gas-fired power.

But now, the most successful of Bitcoins rivals, Ethereum, is changing tack. This month it promises to switch its computing technology to something far less polluting.

Read more: Ethereum: the transformation that could see it overtake bitcoin

Ethereums project involves ditching the proof of work model for a new one called proof of stake.

Under this model, crypto transactions are validated by users, who stake substantial quantities of blockchain tokens (in this case, Ethereum coins) as collateral. If the users act dishonestly, they lose their stake.

Importantly, it will mean the vast network of supercomputers currently used to check transactions will no longer be required, because users themselves are doing the checking a relatively easy task. Doing away with the computer miners will lead to an estimated 99% drop in Ethereums electricity use.

Some smaller cryptocurrencies such as the Ada coin traded on the Cardano platform use proof of stake but its been confined to the margins to date.

For the past year, Ethereum has been running the new model on experimental blockchains. But this month, the model will be merged into the main platform.

So what does all this mean? The Ethereum experiment could fail if, say, some stakeholders find ways to manipulate the system. But if the switch does succeed, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will be under pressure to abandon the proof-of-work model, or else shut down.

This pressure has already begun. Tesla founder Elon Musks last year announced his company would no longer accept Bitcoin payment for its electric cars, due to the currencys carbon footprint.

The New York state legislature in June passed a bill to ban some Bitcoin operations that use carbon-based power. (However, the decision requires sign off from New Yorks governor and may be vetoed).

And in March this year, the European parliament voted on a proposal to ban the proof-of-work model. The proposal was defeated. But as Europe heads into the cooler months, and grapples with an energy crisis triggered by sanctions on Russian gas supplies, energy-guzzling cryptocurrencies will remain in the firing line.

One thing is clear: as the need to slash global emissions becomes ever more pressing, cryptocurrencies will run out of excuses for their egregious energy use.

Read more: Tesla's Bitcoin about-face is a warning for cryptocurrencies that ignore climate change

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The most important cryptocurrency event in years is about to begin and the biggest windfall goes to the planet - The Conversation