IMF’s crypto report has come under fire from the crypto industry and climate tech expert Daniel Batten has called it out while unpacking some of the dishonest techniques from the report.
Founder of CH4 Capital, Batten tweeted out that the report contained some of the ‘most overtly intellectually dishonest techniques’ and continued to unveil some of the fallacies in his post.
The IMF’s recent paper “Carbon Emissions from AI and Crypto Are Surging and Tax Policy Can Help” contained some of the most overtly intellectually dishonest techniques we’ve seen.
Let’s unpack one of them, and where it falls over.
The headline, and the article logic uses a… pic.twitter.com/02K3ydMZ8i
— Daniel Batten (@DSBatten) August 20, 2024
Pointing out the very first ‘research issue’ in IMF’s report, he added that the headline, and the article logic showcases a rhetorical technique known as “guilt by association”, which is inherently intellectually dishonest.
Ripping apart the research logics of the report, Batten added that the ‘Carbon Emissions from AI and Crypto Are Surging and Tax Policy Can Help’ report employs a persuasion tactic and ‘not a scientific approach to data analysis’.
He stated, “The problem is that their own data showed that Bitcoin’s proportion of global energy use and proportion of emissions is decreasing.
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IMF provided data on a low-base-high 2027 estimate, while only providing the actual number for 2022.”
Batten suggested that instead of an apples and oranges comparison, a fair one between the 2022 actual and the 2027 base case which happens to be a standard charting procedure) would show the proportion of energy and CO2 emissions is reducing for crypto, but increasing for AI.
Batten speculated that the reason for such dishonest and unscientific approach in the report could be due to IMF’s own motives. Note that the IMF is developing its own CBDC, in a direct competitive effort towards the decentralized currency- Bitcoin.
Somehow, the entities involved in CBDCs active promotion includes IMF, Ripple, BIS, DNB and ECB. On the other hand, entities propagating anti-Bitcoin agenda with hit pieces/ sponsoring also include IMF, Ripple, BIS, DNB, ECB.
Batten suggested, “This may all be an incredible coincidence. But isn’t it worth a little more critical thinking before trusting an IMF report, a Ripple-funded anti-Bitcoin campaign, a DNB-employee, or a ECB or BIS report on Bitcoin at face value?”
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Also Read: IMF Proposes 85% Tax Hike on Crypto Miners & AI Data Centers
