Much has been written about the significant energy—and carbon—footprint generated by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, among others. The computational processing power required for cryptocurrency “mining”—in which equipment is typically used 24 hours a day, 7 days a week—adds to the energy consumed by each transaction. At the end of the day, cryptocurrencies consume more energy than countries such as Argentina or the Philippines, for example.

But this intense processing activity doesn't just leave a significant carbon footprint. It also generates a large amount of e-waste, or electronic waste. According to a study published by Resources, Conservation and Recycling (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921344921005103?dgcid=author), each transaction produces more than 250 grams of electronic waste, equivalent to the weight of two iPhones thrown away.