Pattern Matching

The True Cost of Bitcoin and NFTs

Blockchain takes a substantial toll on the environment that experts are beginning to reckon with

Alpine Mining co-founder and CEO Ludovic Thomas works at the company’s main cryptocurrency mining site in the tiny southern Swiss village of Gondo. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

The price of one bitcoin, as I write this, is $57,383 — more than 10 times what it cost just a year ago. That price is volatile, so it will be different by the time you read this. But rest…