I am a biologist. I’ve studied bird song vocalization in Costa Rican rainforests, dissected 34 foot basking sharks to collect biometric data and have been a science teacher for about thirteen years. I look at the world through scientific eyes. When I was first introduced to crypto, I immediately felt the urge to break it all down into bite size pieces, to organize the different types of currencies into groups to get a clearer picture. In the science world we would call this taxonomic classification: the organization of plants, animals and bacteria based on their physical and genetic attributes. When applying this method to crypto, I noticed that there were many types of cryptocurrencies and that all had various functions within the space.
There are 2 principal groups of cryptocurrency, Proof of Work and Proof of Stake. Each of them is divided into two subcategories: Stablecoins and Tokens.
Proof of Work (PoW)- This is the proverbial archaea of cryptocurrency species. It is the ancestor to the current standard of modern crypto. This is not to say that the PoW coins have less value, far from it. Proof of Work coins differ from their progeny, Proof of Stake coins, in that they use powerful computers that crunch complicated algorithms in order to “mine” for new bites. Miners are very controversial because they require massive amounts of energy to run their computers, contributing significantly to climate change. The two PoW coins that most people know are Bitcoin and Ethereum. It is estimated that mining Bitcoin consumes nearly 5 gigawatts or roughly 1% of the world’s Energy (Bradbury 2021). This high environmental cost has painted a negative picture of all cryptocurrencies regardless of type when in reality the vast majority of tokens and coins today do not follow this mining method and consequently have only a fraction of the carbon footprint.
Proof of Stake (PoS)- PoS coins are the great granddaughter of Bitcoin and Ethereum. This group of coins and tokens utilize a very different method of living. These coins are not mined and instead are validated by groups or “pools” of computers that spread information to each other. There is very little energy used. It is similar to the amount of energy used when data is transferred between a website being hosted on a server and the end users’ computer. No fancy graphics cards are necessary and any old computer can belong to a pool. The resulting environmental impact is minimal and estimated to be 99.99% lower than that of PoW coins. (Kaplan 2021)
Stablecoins and Tokens- PoW and PoS coins are split into stablecoins and tokens. Stablecoins are native to their own blockchain, so for example you can purchase a BNB coin from the Binance Blockchain. (Frankenfield 2020) Bitcoin and Ethereum both are stablecoins. Ethereum has an incredible number of tokens that reside on it’s ERC20 network and rely on the swapping of the Eth coin to purchase them. BNB is the stablecoin currency utilized by Binance and is the root currency that the tokens depend on. Tokens are branches off of the main coin and are transferred to holders using the main coins network. Burn1 is a token and lives within the Binance BNB Network. In order to purchase Burn1 you need to purchase the stablecoin BNB and then swap it for Burn1 on a decentralized exchange, such as Pancake Swap.
Adaptation through time- The evolution of crypto has resulted in some really truly incredible variation of crypto species. The original concept of crypto was simply a virtual currency that was not hindered by geographical borders. Today’s crypto families have massive utility and support finance, virtual gaming, shipping and supply chain monitoring, art, music, decentralized internet, privacy, and interestingly raise funds for charity organizations. The most important differentiation by far has come from Proof of Stake Coins figuring out a way to exist with a fraction of the energy use.
Cardano ADA and Binance BNB are tremendous examples of Stablecoins that have a low carbon footprint and the tokens on those networks subsequently also result in low environmental pollution. Burn1 Coin lives happily in the environmentally friendly world of BNB. Burn1 Coin, (misleading name but it is actually a token) was purposefully developed on the Binance BNB Blockchain so that every transaction raises funds for Cannabis Reform and to provide legal representation to people incarcerated for cannabis offenses.
Charity tokens- a new breed. The team at Burn1 believes that the merging of social justice and crypto is the next branch in crypto’s evolutionary tree. By partnering with nonprofits such as Last Prisoner Project, Burn1 and its holders will change the “space,” as it is called by those entrenched in the crypto world, through grassroots efforts and education, advocacy campaigns and connections. Burn1 has developed a living breathing token that auto-generates funds for both marketing and charity and won’t stop pushing until we Burn1 with those who need assistance in all corners of the globe.
Citations
Kovačević, Andrej. 2020. https://learn.g2.com/types-of-cryptocurrency
Bradbury, Danny. 2021. https://www.thebalance.com/how-much-power-does-the-bitcoin-network-use-391280
Kaplan, Ezra. 2021. https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/cryptocurrency-goes-green-proof-stake-offer-solution-energy-concerns-rcna1030
Frankenfield, Jake. 2020. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/crypto-token.asp
