Difference between revisions of "Ethics of Blockchain"

Revision as of 21:26, 27 January 2023

Background

Blockchain is a distributed database utilizing a distributed ledger. A ledger is a record-keeping system associated with financial accounts. As such, blockchain records transactions in an electronic digital format. A distributed ledger means that there is no central authority like a bank that manages the data. Instead, blockchain is stored on every computer that is running blockchain. Blockchain is secure and, because of no central authority, operates under a decentralized architecture. This makes blockchain an alluring technology to many in the 21st century. However, blockchain also brings about many ethical considerations, including concerns about its high energy usage and privacy concerns.

History

Blockchain was first introduced in 2008 by someone, or some group, under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. However, origins of a distributed ledger have surfaced as early as 1982 by a University of California, Berkeley, graduate David Chaum. In 1982, David Chaum published a paper titled Computer Systems Established, Maintained and Trusted by Mutually Suspicious Groups, and in which he first outlined the idea for blockchain.

In 2008, Satoshi Nakamoto solved something that previously remained a flaw for blockchain technologies, that of double spending. Double spending is when users spend the same digital currency twice, and Satoshi Nakamoto solved this problem through his creation of a secure verification system. This improvement allowed for the adoption of blockchain, and, most notably, Bitcoin, which was the first largely adopted cryptocurrency.

Ethical Considerations

Discussion Excessive

One of the main ethical issues with blockchain seems to be the massive amount of environmental issues that blockchain causes. Crypto mining in the US alone the industry was responsible for an excess 27.4 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) between mid-2021 and 2022. This use of carbon emission in the US equals three time the amount as the US’s largest coal mine.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgecalhoun/2022/10/11/the-ethics-of-crypto-sorting-out-good-intentions-and-bad-actors/?sh=4115bc535c49

https://earthjustice.org/features/cryptocurrency-mining-environmental-impacts#:~:text=Top%2Ddown%20estimates%20of%20the,in%20the%20U.S.%20in%202021.

https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/cryptocurrency-environmental-impact?r=US&IR=T

References

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9. SoFi. (2022, November 21). Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) vs. Blockchain. SoFi. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.sofi.com/learn/content/dlt-vs-blockchain/

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13. Calhoun, G. (2022, October 27). The ethics of crypto: Good intentions and bad actors. Forbes. Retrieved January 27, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgecalhoun/2022/10/11/the-ethics-of-crypto-sorting-out-good-intentions-and-bad-actors/?sh=36e9e7815c49