Tech
NBA star LeBron James partners with Crypto.com to embrace Web3
LeBron James is the latest athlete to embrace cryptocurrency. The NBA star and his LeBron James Family Foundation are partnering with Crypto.com to “support Web3-focused educational and workforce development opportunities.”
The partnership will provide students and families connected to the four-time NBA champion’s “I PROMISE” program access to educational tools and resources to participate in Web3.
“Blockchain technology is revolutionizing our economy, sports and entertainment, the art world and the way we interact with each other. I want to ensure that communities like the one I come from are not left behind,” James said in a statement.
Crypto.com has been furiously pushing its name out into the world, paying more than $700 million to be the title sponsor of what was once Staples Center for the next 20 years, where James and the Los Angeles Lakers play their home games.
The company also partnered with Matt Damon to become the face of its platform, spending over $100 million on the campaign. Since the partnership was announced in October, Bitcoin has fallen from over $60,000 to around $37,000.
James is the latest in a growing list of athletes to get involved in the crypto space, following other stars like Odell Beckham Jr., Steph Curry and Tom Brady.
Major Bitcoin miners urged by US lawmakers to detail climate impact, energy use
(Bloomberg) A group of Democratic lawmakers led by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren is demanding details from six of the world’s largest Bitcoin miners about their electricity use and greenhouse gas emissions, a warning that comes amid growing concern over the environmental impact of the cryptocurrency industry.
The eight lawmakers sent letters Thursday asking miners, including Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. and Riot Blockchain Inc., to provide information on their facilities’ annual electricity consumption, growth plans and the impact on electricity prices local.
Cryptocurrencies have been increasingly criticized due to the industry’s energy consumption, which is now comparable to that of the entire country of Argentina. The letters raise the stakes in Warren’s campaign to crack down on wasteful Bitcoin operations after she sent a similar request last month to Greenidge Generation Holdings Inc., which powers its facility in upstate New York with a natural gas plant. They also come as the sector reels from Bitcoin’s roughly 50% slump.
“Given the extraordinarily high energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining, mining operations raise concerns about their impact on the global environment, local ecosystems, and electricity costs for consumers,” they wrote Warren and seven other US lawmakers, including Representative Katie Porter and Senator Sheldon. White House.
The letters also went to Stronghold Digital Mining Inc., Bitfury Group Ltd., Bitdeer Technologies Holding Co. and Bit Digital Inc. The miners operate in the United States and countries including Norway, Russia, Japan and Kazakhstan.
The letter addressed to BitFury CEO Brian Brooks asked him to provide details on the company’s electricity needs and climate impact.
“What is the expected electricity consumption for cryptomining at all your US facilities combined over the next five years? What are the expected associated carbon emissions from such mining? the lawmakers wrote.
Brooks defended the industry’s energy consumption before a U.S. House subcommittee hearing this month.
“Bitcoin mining consumes a small but non-trivial amount [of] energy relative to the amount of value created, and that that energy comes on average more from sustainable sources than from the U.S. power grid as a whole,” he told the committee.
Mining uses powerful computers to solve math problems and order transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, with the fastest miners rewarded in Bitcoin. The largest miners operate tens of thousands of computers buzzing in warehouses that resemble data centers and consume large amounts of electricity.
“The extraordinarily high energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with Bitcoin mining could undermine our hard work to address the climate crisis, not to mention the harmful impacts cryptomining has on the local environment and electricity prices,” Warren said in an emailed statement.
Representatives from Marathon, Stronghold, Riot and Bit Digital said in emailed statements that they welcomed the chance to speak with lawmakers. Stronghold, which uses coal waste to generate power and mine Bitcoin, said its facilities are helping solve an environmental problem and could stabilize the power grid, rather than strain it. BitDeer and Bitfury did not respond to requests for comment.
The letters come as Bitcoin miners face a crucial challenge in the wake of the token’s 50% plunge from November’s all-time high. While many mining operations have made significant profits amid Bitcoin’s gains over the past year, the crisis could penalize those with less efficient operations.
The letters were also signed by Senators Maggie Hassan and Edward J. Markey and Representatives Rashida Tlaib and Jared Huffman.