Understanding public discourse surrounding the impact of bitcoin on the environment in social media

Abstract

Increasing public concerns about the environment have led to many studies that have explored current issues and approaches towards its protection. Much less studied, however, is topic of public opinion surrounding the impact that cryptocurrencies are having on the environment. The cryptocurrency market, in particular, bitcoin, currently rivals other top well-known assets such as precious metals and exchanged traded funds in market value, and its growing. This work examines public opinion expressed about the environmental impacts of bitcoin derived from Twitter feeds. Three primary research questions were addressed in this work related to topics of public interest, their location, and people and places involved. Our findings show that factions of of the public are interest in protecting the environment, with topics that resonate mainly related to energy. This discourse was also taking place at few similar locations with a mix of different people and places of interest.