With predictions about crashing markets and how the pandemic will plunge the world into a recession which is preceded only by the aftermath of the Second World War, in 2021 people were letting go of their fixed assets and liquifying them into modern investments: cryptocurrency. 

One of the biggest issues that crypto-trading faces is the high carbon footprint that is associated with Bitcoin mining. Given how much more environmentally conscious the younger generations are and often let sustainability drive their consumption, the crypto industry will have to change how to fix this problem if they want to grow to become as ubiquitous as it has the potential to be. According to new research led by Frankfurt School Blockchain Center, Bitcoin transactions can be offset by purchasing emission allowances from the ETS, or European Emissions Trading System at $18 USD per transaction. Holding Bitcoins can be offset at $100 USD per year. However, it is predicted that prices for CO2 emissions will only increase as the trend continues, especially if it becomes a new regulation to owning Bitcoins. 

In the beginning, Bitcoins were easily mined with personal computers, but as the process of mining Bitcoins was designed to be halved once each milestone or quota was met, the performance requirements to mine Bitcoin became much more demanding and miners needed to increase their energy consumption and GPU mining became the norm. Over time, mining pools emerged and companies were established for the sole purpose of mining Bitcoins. According to a reputable Bitcoin mining source, the energy consumption rate jumped by a factor of a hundred million in just seven years, between 2011 and 2018. This figure will only increase exponentially and today, it has grown more than tenfold, and the mining hashrate has reached over 156 EH per second, which amounts to 15.6 billion operations per second. 

Fortunately, regulations have been put in place to regulate the mining industry and China no longer supports Bitcoin mining, which will ease energy consumption rates. Furthermore, those that continue to mine Bitcoin are looking towards renewable energy sources and utilizing sustainable energy sources such as geothermal or solar energy, which leads to the prediction of a greener future for the mining industry. 

Upon the successes that Bitcoin was able to achieve, more cryptocurrencies were developed and released to the public. Today, there are over 2,000 cryptocurrencies that are competing directly with the pioneer, with Ethereum being one of the most popular. Statistics and predictions show that even more cryptocurrencies will join the foray for a slice of the cryptocurrency pie. While Bitcoin started off as a decentralized and unregulated currency, which was what made it so appealing in the beginning, more and more users are beginning to call for reform and for governments to step in for institutionalization and support. 

From bitcoins to dot usdt, this has gone on to spawn e-wallets and credits, which has become widely used around the world, especially during the pandemic when going cashless was deemed much safer than traditional transactions. 

In that vein, blockchain technology is believed to play a hand in helping halt the spread of the virus by implementing a vaccine tracking system. Since vaccine management is still in development, concerns of fake vaccines are a major concern for people all over the world. As blockchain technology is practically tamper-proof, it could serve to be an ideal platform for vaccine verification, and along with it, the tracking and distribution of vaccines all over the world. 

According to 101 Blockchains, another promising highlight of blockchain's future in 2022 is that “manufacturing and distributing COVID vaccines would be the verification of vaccine integrity at different points in the supply chain.” They go on to explain how the technology can ensure consistent storage of vaccine batches at the right temperature in order to retain its integrity. 

IBM has successfully developed a system that leverages blockchain technology to aid with coordination between different agencies and among healthcare providers who are tasked with vaccine distribution. The system combines the documentation of “vaccination rates and efficiencies from different platforms and tools used by healthcare authorities and agencies.”

This means that healthcare authorities can quickly detect which vaccines or batches may have caused higher rates of side effects, or which were most successful in preventing the infection of Covid-19, all of which plays an important part in helping us curb the spread of the coronavirus and putting the pandemic to rest. 

From bolstering the economy during troubled times to providing aid to managing the pandemic, Bitcoin and the technology that came with it is a God-send and will continue to be optimized into the future and beyond.