As cryptocurrencies become increasingly popular, the environmental impact of the technology is gaining more attention. Local, state and national governments are trying to figure out how to regulate the massive amounts of energy that some cryptocurrencies consume.

Short Wave host Aaron Scott and producer Eva Tesfaye are joined by Planet Money reporter Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi who unpacks what cryptocurrencies are, how the technology works and why it all sucks up so much energy.

Check out the episodes of Planet Money and The Indicator that Alexi mentioned:

• Bitcoin Losers - What happens when you lose access to your bitcoin.
• Such Cryptocurrency. So Amaze. - The origin of Dogecoin.
• The $69 Million JPEG - A record-brea2king NFT sale.

Email the show at [email protected].

This episode was produced by Eva Tesfaye. Stephanie O’Neill was the editor and Katherine Sypher checked the facts. The audio engineer for this episode was Josh Newell.