Amid a heated debate over Bitcoin’s environmental toll, two companies say they have an answer on mitigating some of the negative effects: Nuclear energy.
Power startup Oklo Inc. said it’s partnering with Bitcoin mining and hosting firm Compass Mining to introduce advanced fission to the energy-intensive process of minting new coins. It’s an effort, the companies say, to reduce fossil-fuel emissions from Bitcoin mining and to diversify energy sources used by the miners, who compete to verify transactions in exchange for new coins.
“Bitcoin is a huge market opportunity for clean energy generation, especially looking forward for new generation systems,” said Oklo Chief Executive Officer Jacob DeWitte, who founded the company with Caroline Cochran in 2013.
