The post Two IMF execs call for an 85% hiked electricity tax on crypto miners  appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Two executives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that taxes could increase the average global cost of crypto-mining electricity by up to 85%, which could significantly reduce carbon emissions. This is despite the fact that smaller operations have been unable to generate a profit since the halving of Bitcoin in April, which has heightened the strain on miners to identify more efficient operational strategies. In a blog post, the IMF stated that: Such a levy would raise annual government revenue of $5.2 billion globally and reduce annual emissions by 100 million tons around Belgium’s current emissions. IMF It is uncertain whether a tax increase of this nature would directly reduce emissions, as miners have frequently pursued more cost-effective alternatives in countries with more favorable electricity costs. IMF execs float raising crypto mining electricity taxes The IMF Fiscal Affairs Department’s deputy division chief, Shafik Hebous, and climate policy division economist Nate Vernon-Lin wrote that a tax of $0.047 per kilowatt hour “would drive the crypto mining industry to curb its emissions in line with global goals.” According to them, if the local impact of miners on health were taken into account, the tax would increase to $0.089 per kilowatt hour. They argued that a single Bitcoin transaction consumes approximately the same amount of electricity as the average person in Pakistan consumes in three years, whereas the artificial intelligence model ChatGPT requires ten times the amount of power compared to a Google search. The IMF reported that crypto mining and artificial intelligence data centers’ environmental impact collectively accounts for nearly 1% of global carbon emissions and 2% of global electricity consumption. It follows a September IMF report that stressed the electricity use of both industries. Within the next three years, crypto mining and AI data centers are anticipated to…

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Filed under: News - @ August 16, 2024 5:27 am