Argument för och emot bitcoin och bitcoinisering

El Salvador has unveiled a new citizenship investment program, the “Freedom Visa,” open to a limited number of applicants. By investing $1 million in bitcoin or tether, participants can secure Salvadoran citizenship.

With an annual cap of 1,000 participants, this initiative aims to draw high-net-worth individuals, offering them residency and eventual citizenship in return for their investment, mirroring several Visa schemes in a wide array of nations.

But investors such as Daniel Batten at CH4 Capital say there is potential for bitcoin to be environmentally friendly, or to push beneficial social outcomes. “Bitcoin energy consumption is high and will continue to go up. This is for certain. However, it is a mistake to say this means it is anti-ESG,” he told me.

Bitcoin’s large electricity usage could turn out to be a benefit in some cases, Batten argued, where it could soak up excess supply of energy generated via renewable sources such as solar or wind. A KPMG report looking at bitcoin and ESG notes potential social benefits, too. The cryptocurrency could allow previously unprofitable, small electrical grids linked to local renewable energy to become “financially viable” in developing countries and in turn improve electricity access, it said.