[mothered]

Greetings everyone,

During my travels on the net, I've stumbled across this rather Interesting article pertaining to the energy consumed with Bitcoin mining. As to It's accuracy, I'd be Interested to see the grounds on which their calculations are based.

It takes a lot of electricity to mine bitcoins, and as more miners try to cash in on the crypto craze, the amount of energy required to win new coins increases accordingly. New research suggests the entire bitcoin network could consume as much as 7.7 gigawatts of electricity by the end of this year—enough to power a country the size of Austria. But the new analysis is not without its critics, who say there are many other factors to consider.

By the end of this year, bitcoin could use half a percent of the world’s electric energy, according to research published today in the science journal Joule. What’s more, if bitcoin’s value rises as high as some experts predict, the network could eventually consume upwards of five percent of the world’s electricity.

Source.

[zorrophreak]

Its not really a surprise. Mining has always been known to consume a ton of energy (I never knew how much but still) and through that the upkeep. Mining is everything in crypto so anything that is dependent on cryptography cracking and high difficulty computing is going to take a ton of power.

[Vultra]

I was considering purchasing a bitcoin miner but, what's really the point when it generates BTC when the bill will be higher then the BTC itself and especially when the market is going up and down all the time.

Nice article though, good job.

[mothered]

Its not really a surprise. Mining has always been known to consume a ton of energy

Agree.

Prior to reading the article, I didn't realize the magnitude of energy consumed. It's certainly quite significant and Is set to Increase.

[mothered]

Someone said that soon the world will seize the cryptocurrency, the cash will depreciate and we will face the biggest financial crisis in the history of mankind.

I'd say It's premature to be definitive of where the cryptocurrency market Is heading.

I would be most Interested who this "someone" Is, and what grounds they've based their statement.

[sarahxia618]

Bitcoin mining emits 7.7 million tons of carbon a year. Electricity consumption is equivalent to one year of electricity use in Ireland. Bitcoin's energy use is indeed a big problem and is expanding rapidly. But a solution like Lightning Network may also help increase network throughput, thereby reducing the power consumption and carbon emissions of cryptocurrencies, and I believe the market will adjust it all.

[mothered]

Bitcoin mining emits 7.7 million tons of carbon a year. Electricity consumption is equivalent to one year of electricity use in Ireland

I don't recall exactly where, but I have read something along these lines.

Ireland has a population of almost 5 million and the fact Bitcoin consumes their electricity usage (Inclusive of every entity) In one year, Is unfathomable.

[arduinomeat]

Very interesting article. Half a percent is a crazy share, knowing that the datacenters of the world represent 3% of the total electricity.

[Jimbo39238]

Cool read, the Austria example really puts it into perspective, god damn!

[chesterbeatdeath]

Just my $.02: According to my budget BitCoin takes more energy cost than I earn in BTC.
There was no way to make the numbers add up for profit and I tried