In the latest episode of the Twitter saga, Elon Musk has decided to step down as Twitter’s CEO and let someone else run the company. And that someone is none other than Floki, his dog. Yes, you heard it right! Floki is the new CEO of Twitter now. The SpaceX founder even changed Twitter’s blue bird logo to a cryptocurrency, the Dogecoin icon. The icon is the photo of a Shiba Inu, the same dog breed that Floki belongs to.
Floki as the New CEO
In December 2022, Musk did a Twitter poll asking people whether he should resign from his CEO position. He also mentioned that whatever the public decides through the polls, he’ll follow it. The results went against him, so he tweeted that he’ll find a new CEO as soon as possible and will go back to running the software and server teams. Recently, Musk posted a picture on Twitter of Floki sitting on the CEO’s chair. He stated in the caption, “The new CEO of Twitter is amazing.” He even added that the dog is excellent at crunching numbers and has great style.
The BBC Live Interview
During an interview with BBC, Musk admitted that running Twitter has been quite a roller-coaster ride for him. He even confirmed that he did stand down from being the CEO of Twitter. Now, his dog has taken over the role. When asked why he decided to step down, he responded by saying that it was a spontaneous decision. When Elon Musk took over Twitter, he made quite a buzz by laying off many people. He explained that if he hadn’t taken any action immediately, Twitter would have shut down. He added that the company is currently facing quite a big downfall and might not survive for too long.
The Environmental Impact of Bitcoin Is Heavy
It is no secret that bitcoin mining comes with an environmental cost, but the extent of that cost has recently been laid bare. According to research by Elite Fixtures, when Bitcoin was at its peak at $69000, its mining used around 180 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually. It’s equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of all the data centers combined. That’s one giant energy footprint — and it’s one that we’re only going to see getting bigger in the years ahead.
All About Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency that doesn’t need to be physically minted. A centralized bank does not control it; instead, each transaction is verified by computers, or miners, all over the world. The currency was launched in 2009 as open-source software by Satoshi Nakamoto (an anonymous name) and has no real value other than its use as payment.
The Environmental Cost
Bitcoin has dramatically risen in value over 2017, but at a cost to our environment. With each bitcoin now worth nearly $24,000 – almost 40 times its value just one year ago – there is increased scrutiny into how cryptocurrency mining impacts power grids worldwide. Bitcoins are created through “mining,” which consists of people using high-powered computers to solve complicated math problems. The point of mining is to ensure that no one person can manipulate Bitcoin transactions because computers must be extremely powerful to do so.
Implications for Environmental Sustenance
To keep up with demand, miners use a lot of energy. If it trades at a higher price, then there is more mining. Until the prices hover at about $25,200, the consumption is around 180 TWh of electricity annually. By comparison, 100 million homes in America could be powered for one year by that much energy, says environmental analyst, Alex de Vries. And that is only one cryptocurrency; there are many more out there like Ethereum that uses the same energy-inefficient way to validate the transaction.