Experts Refute Damning IMF ‘Attack Piece’ on Crypto Mining

In a post on X on Aug. 16, crypto ESG advocate and researcher Daniel Batten posted a rebuttal to an Aug. 15 IMF report on Bitcoin mining emissions.

He argued that the IMF report uses flawed rhetorical techniques, such as “guilt by association,” by linking Bitcoin mining with AI data centers’ energy consumption.

The report titled “Carbon Emissions from AI and Crypto Are Surging and Tax Policy Can Help” bundled crypto and AI together, labeling them as “power hungry” threats to the environment.

Another Central Bank Attack Piece

Batten said that the attack pieces are usually from those that stand to lose from Bitcoin adoption, namely central banks.

“With the scientific consensus and mainstream journalism now concluding that Bitcoin mining has significant environmental benefits, those who stand to lose most from mainstream adoption of Bitcoin (IMF, Central Banks) are needing to resort to direct attack-pieces.”

Rebuttal of New IMF report on Bitcoin mining emissions

IMF report says “Carbon Emissions from AI and Cryto are surging” then goes on to a detailed report on how regulators should impose “cryptocarbon” tax.

Rebuttal:

Firstly, Bitcion advocates everywhere should pause to… pic.twitter.com/GClHEi0FvR

— Daniel Batten (@DSBatten) August 15, 2024

He claimed that, unlike AI data centers, Bitcoin mining has been shown to have a positive impact on power grids.

Research has shown that flexible data centers, such as Bitcoin mining operations, have a net decarbonizing impact on grids, whereas inflexible data centers, such as AI, have a net carbonizing impact.

He pointed out that IMFs own data sources revealed that by 2027, crypto’s share of global electricity use, and its share of global CO2 emissions will have decreased. However, both will have increased for the AI industry.

The IMF also relies heavily on discredited or debunked authors such as Alex de Vries and dated information from 2022 from Cambridge University.

Batten concluded that any reports from the IMF “should be disregarded as being of a low research-standard,” and unusable to policymakers and regulators.

“This is super informative. Thanks for writing,” replied US Senator Cynthia Lummis.

Tax Them All

The IMF’s Fiscal Affairs deputy division chief Shafik Hebous and climate policy division economist Nate Vernon-Lin wrote that a per kilowatt hour tax “would drive the crypto mining industry to curb its emissions in line with global goals.”

They claimed that a higher tax would increase the average electricity price for crypto miners by 85%. This would also increase yearly global government revenue by $5.2 billion and reduce emissions by 100 million tons annually, they declared.

The IMF is all in favor of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs); however, reporting last year on increased interest in them and the development of its own platform.