Bitcoin and several other popular cryptocurrencies are created, or mined, using a concept called proof of work, which involves solving computationally difficult puzzles that consume a large amount of electricity.
However, demand for one such currency, Chia, has become so high that some Asian countries, such as Vietnam, are reporting shortages of hard discs.
He also suggested that these new cryptocurrencies could provide a way for companies building large data centres to offset the cost by turning them over to mining.
“Other consensus algorithms that are less energy-intensive but also introduce some level of centralisation and subjectivity might be an acceptable trade-off.
Aron Peterson, who works in digital production for the film industry in the UK, says that people in his field started to notice the price of computing hardware creeping above manufacturer-listed prices around six years ago.
“Obviously I wasn’t going to run this experiment for five months, especially if the estimated time continued to climb as new miners appeared,” he says.
Peterson isn’t convinced by Chia’s green credentials, saying bitcoin miners are unlikely to switch because it would require them to buy new hardware.