In Nic's words, “Refusing to propose any model at all helps the OSTP’s anti-crypto case because it leaves future crypto energy demands wide open to the imagination.”
In line with President Biden’s executive order, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) conducted research on the climate impacts of crypto mining.
Following the research report by OSTP, a popular crypto venture capitalist, Nic Carter, has released an annotated version, sharing his opinions. He stated that he was not trying to support Bitcoin mining but would only lay out the appalling part of the report.
The study conducted by OSTP shows that PoW and PoS may not grant identical assurance but remains unsure whether PoS is the perfect replacement for PoW.
It also acknowledges the interesting developments in mining with stranded natural gas and the contributions miners can offer to grid flexibility by their involvement in demand response programs.
However, this report only offers lukewarm solutions, and according to Nic, the efforts put into the research by OSTP were poor. He stated the paper is just an extended literature review with little to no addition of new data.
It was based on studies, anti-PoW consultancies, and academic bloggers like De Vries, citing many conflicting ideas from various academics with no added source from the mining space itself.
In Carter’s words,
“Citing the non-peer-reviewed work of (highly conflicted) amateur hobbyists just doesn’t cut it for a purportedly scientific paper.”
He also stated no virtual case was cited in the report, and it takes an extremely harsh approach toward miners on utilizing renewable sources, chastising miners for using renewables and stating an extremely stringent set of conditions where its use will be acceptable.
Nic also addressed OSTP's refusal to address future energy trajectories. While OSTP is willing to repeat De Vries's belief about Bitcoin’s emission, they are reluctant to make projections on future energy expenditures.
He added,
“Refusing to propose any model at all helps the OSTP’s anti-crypto case because it leaves future crypto energy demands wide open to the imagination.”
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