A recent report said that a transaction involving the largest cryptocurrency uses the same amount of electricity as a British household for almost two months.
98% of mining platforms never reach
Essentially, bitcoin mining is the process of creating new coins and confirming initiated transactions. It is executed by “miners”, who solve complex equations. On average, every 10 minutes, a new block is added to the distributed general ledger of already existing transactions and miners receive the reward (royalty) for their work.
According to the report, provided by the multinational professional professional services network, PWC, there are around four million computer platforms in the world used by Bitcoin miners.
However, Alex de Vries, a blockchain specialist at PWC, said that 98% of them would never achieve their mission. He also noted that these IT platforms have a relatively short lifespan and cannot be reused afterwards:
“The shocking thing is that the average lifespan of a Bitcoin mining machine is a year and a half because we have a new generation of machines that are better able to do these calculations.” According to De Vries.
“This means that 98% of devices in their lifetime cannot do the math that actually translates into a reward. The others therefore operate unnecessarily for a few years, consuming energy and producing heat, then they will simply be put in the trash because they cannot be reused. It’s crazy.”
Bitcoin, or massive use of electricity
As a result, PWC specialists have concluded that each Bitcoin transaction uses approximately 657.39 kWh of electricity. To put things in perspective, this equates to 59 days of electricity for an average British household.
De Vries also informed of the carbon footprint left after a single transaction. This is like watching more than 52,000 hours of YouTube or making more than 780,000 Visa transactions.
The figures are even more impressive when examined annually. According to the report, Bitcoin’s highest annual electricity consumption is 77.78 terawatt hours. This is equivalent to Chile’s total electricity consumption.
Quite expectedly, the highest number of Bitcoin transactions was recorded during the 2017/2018 dish price hike. After the steep drop, which brought the price down to $ 3,120 (Bitstamp, December 2018), consumption has also collapsed, but it has soared again recently, the report said.
Renewable energy
The PWC document mentions that there is a legitimate solution to this problem. Bitcoin mining should be carried out using renewable energy.
The industry could already be one step ahead, according to a comprehensive report on the 2019 issue compiled by the famous cryptocurrency research firm, CoinShares. He said 74.1% of all Bitcoin mining companies are already using renewable energy.
In fact, the document concluded that Bitcoin mining is “more focused on renewable energy than almost any other major industry in the world.”
Click here to start trading on BitMEX and receive 10% fee reduction for 6 months.
A recent report said that a transaction involving the largest cryptocurrency uses the same amount of electricity as a British household for almost two months.
98% of mining platforms never reach
Essentially, bitcoin mining is the process of creating new coins and confirming initiated transactions. It is executed by “miners”, who solve complex equations. On average, every 10 minutes, a new block is added to the distributed general ledger of already existing transactions and miners receive the reward (royalty) for their work.
According to the report, provided by the multinational professional professional services network, PWC, there are around four million computer platforms in the world used by Bitcoin miners.
However, Alex de Vries, a blockchain specialist at PWC, said that 98% of them would never achieve their mission. He also noted that these IT platforms have a relatively short lifespan and cannot be reused afterwards:
“The shocking thing is that the average lifespan of a Bitcoin mining machine is a year and a half because we have a new generation of machines that are better able to do these calculations.” According to De Vries.
“This means that 98% of devices in their lifetime cannot do the math that actually translates into a reward. The others therefore operate unnecessarily for a few years, consuming energy and producing heat, then they will simply be put in the trash because they cannot be reused. It’s crazy.”
Bitcoin, or massive use of electricity
As a result, PWC specialists have concluded that each Bitcoin transaction uses approximately 657.39 kWh of electricity. To put things in perspective, this equates to 59 days of electricity for an average British household.
De Vries also informed of the carbon footprint left after a single transaction. This is like watching more than 52,000 hours of YouTube or making more than 780,000 Visa transactions.
The figures are even more impressive when examined annually. According to the report, Bitcoin’s highest annual electricity consumption is 77.78 terawatt hours. This is equivalent to Chile’s total electricity consumption.
Quite expectedly, the highest number of Bitcoin transactions was recorded during the 2017/2018 dish price hike. After the steep drop, which brought the price down to $ 3,120 (Bitstamp, December 2018), consumption has also collapsed, but it has soared again recently, the report said.
Renewable energy
The PWC document mentions that there is a legitimate solution to this problem. Bitcoin mining should be carried out using renewable energy.
The industry could already be one step ahead, according to a comprehensive report on the 2019 issue compiled by the famous cryptocurrency research firm, CoinShares. He said 74.1% of all Bitcoin mining companies are already using renewable energy.
In fact, the document concluded that Bitcoin mining is “more focused on renewable energy than almost any other major industry in the world.”
Click here to start trading on BitMEX and receive 10% fee reduction for 6 months.
