The cryptocurrency and blockchain dilemma for ESG investors

Throughout July Panacea ran a series of Cryptocurrency Masterclasses with Bridget Greenwood from The Bigger Pie to provide clarity on the complex world of cryptocurrency. Over the course of these 5 webinars several questions were raised around the ethical and sustainable credentials of cryptocurrency given the amount of energy they require to "mine" and process transactions. With that in mind we have once again teamed up with Bridget to bring you a follow-up session on “The cryptocurrency and blockchain dilemma for ESG investors”. Bridget will be sitting down with Zara Zamani to look at Bitcoin and Ethereum in particular, and cover: • The Environmental, Social and Governance concerns currently related to cryptocurrency • Whether cryptocurrencies are compatible with ESG • How to incorporate ESG factors when using cryptocurrency and what to look for • Significant innovation on greening the energy use that cryptocurrency requires With Bitcoin and Ethereum attempting to enter the mainstream markets and around 9.8 million Britons owning cryptocurrency as at February 2021, it is more important than ever to understand these technologies, their trade-offs and implications to committed ESG investors. Zara Zamani is Head of disruptive technologies at Meta bytes, Sweden. She is a blockchain expert and solution architect. She is also a lecturer and doctoral researcher in adoption of blockchain in small and medium enterprises in Halmstad university. She was featured as one of the 21 women in blockchain you should know in 2021 by Fintech Review as well as top 10 influential women in tech in 2021 by analytics insight.