The current CEO of Ripple, Brad Garlinghouse, recently issued a warning to companies. Specifically, he cited commercial investment in Bitcoin as a risky endeavor. Garlinghouse pointed to Joe Biden's victory in the US presidential election to prove his point. Most companies and analysts expect Biden to take a tougher stance on climate change. In fact, executive orders on climate change could come on day one in office.

More Commercial Entities Continue To Make A Stake In Bitcoin

Garlinghouse mentioned recent investments in Bitcoin from major companies. For instance, companies like Square and MicroStrategy recently purchased Bitcoin. Square's Bitcoin holdings total about 1% of its available cash. MicroStrategy opted to purchase almost $600 million in Bitcoin across various transactions. Likewise, other companies continue to scoop up Bitcoin for one purpose or another.

Bitcoin Utilizes More Electricity Due To Proof-Of-Work Mining Than XRP

If the next US president prioritizes the climate, then these moves could backfire. According to Garlinghouse, Bitcoin remains a risky investment due to proof-of-work. A large amount of mining needs to occur on the Bitcoin network to keep things rolling. All of this mining utilizes large amounts of electricity. Unfortunately, this fact makes Bitcoin a tough sell for advocates of the environment.

Ripple Could Be Better For The Environment, But That's Not Guaranteed

On the other hand, Garlinghouse points out Ripple takes a much smaller toll. He states Bitcoin is 57,000 times less efficient than the XRP token. Millions of transactions of XRP and Bitcoin creates a wide disparity in the electricity used. For that reason, Ripple's CEO thinks more companies should adopt Ripple and XRP instead. He sees much less risk in using what he claims is a more environmentally friendly solution.

Will The Next US President Have A Meaningful Impact On Cryptocurrencies?

The United States could soon rejoin the Paris Agreement. Afterward, Biden could pivot the country to focus on battling climate change. Garlinghouse, in theory, makes a solid point about Bitcoin being frowned upon from an environmental standpoint. His argument holds a little less water since Ripple and XRP compete with Bitcoin on various levels. It remains to be seen whether America's new president leads to trouble for Bitcoin.