Coinbase CEO and others blast Bill Maher for ‘grossly wrong’ tackle crypto’s environmental affect

In a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, the 68-year-old political satirist revealed crypto’s “big secret.” A portion of the episode focused on the environment, discussing climate change with political scientist Bjørn Lumborg. 

It wasn’t long, though, till crypto leaders like Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, shot back. They accused Maher of making misleading claims about the environmental toll of mining cryptocurrencies, and for citing multiple data points without providing the source of his information. 

Later in the episode, Maher threw up his hands. “All the progress we’re making with green energy is being sucked away by Crypto,” he said, exasperated. “Crypto uses 8% of total electricity. Their data centers, their mining, this nonsense of finding a number.” 

Maher continued. “It’s comparable to putting 15.7 million additional gas-powered cars on the road, so as we take them off to go to electric, crypto eats it all up and goes the other way.”

‘Rare miss from Bill Maher’

Maher’s crypto claims quickly received withering responses on social media. Under a clip of the segment on Instagram, users commented about Maher’s ignorance on the topic with one user saying, “This has been debunked at length.” 

On X, formerly known as Twitter, users attached a community note to Maher’s clip. Such notes allow users to add context to misleading or inaccurate posts, basically fact-checking them. In this case, users pointed out that Maher’s claim about crypto consuming 8% of total electricity is “factually incorrect,” and linked two scientific studies showing that the real number is closer to 0.49%. 

The note also mentioned that Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies have adopted so-called proof-of-stake to run their blockchains. The method is more energy efficient than Bitcoin’s proof-of-work model, which relies on an immense amount of computer power.

The criticism didn’t end there. Big names in crypto rushed to correct Maher, too. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong responded to Maher, “Rare miss from @Billmaher.” He agreed with the numbers cited in the community note, emphasizing the post with a bullseye emoji.

Rare miss from @billmaher – the community notes are 🎯

Time to dig in deeper on crypto and avoid spreading misinformation – it’s all good, it happens to us all. Happy to chat any time. https://t.co/qf0awozpDl

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) September 25, 2024

“Time to dig in deeper on crypto and avoid spreading misinformation – it’s all good, it happens to us all. Happy to chat any time,” Armstrong said. Other industry leaders echoed a similar sentiment. 

“Your figures on Bitcoin mining and its electricity consumption and its impact on green energy are grossly wrong,” Bob Burnett, CEO of Barefoot Mining and a self-proclaimed “Bitcoin evangelist,” said. “I’m happy to talk privately or publicly with you or your staff to review the facts.”

Daniel Batten, a Bitcoin advocate and venture capitalist at Climate Tech VC, mocked Maher’s outdated take. “Did you wake up this morning and think it was 2021?,” Batten said. 

Batten attached a chart to his response demonstrating how mainstream media coverage of Bitcoin and energy has fallen in recent years, attributing this decrease to Bitcoin’s “positive environmental externalities.” He continued by linking another chart and stating, “In the meantime, Bitcoin now uses 56.72% sustainable energy.”