Bitcoins consume more energy than Argentina, according to a shock study conducted by the University of Cambridge.
Bitcoins consume more energy than Argentina. This was announced by a new shock study by the University of Cambridge which highlights the dizzying amount of energy required to carry out the computer calculations that allow you to verify all cryptocurrency transactions. That digitization also had negative effects on the environment is nothing new. Two years ago, the alarm was raised by environmental experts from Verbraucher Service Bayern, the Bavarian consumer service, highlighting the large carbon dioxide emissions due to digital activities.
Bitcoins consume more energy than Argentina
The most famous cryptocurrency requires a higher amount of energy than Argentina. According to estimates by the Cambridge researchers, Bitcoins consume about 121.36 terawatt hours (TWh) per year. This value, the scientists continue, will continue to rise more and more unless the value of the cryptocurrency collapses, a rather remote hypothesis for the moment. As Michel Rauchs, co-author of the online resource able to come up with these estimates, also explained: “It is really by design that Bitcoin consumes so much electricity. This is not something that will change in the future unless the price of Bitcoins drops significantly ”. At the moment, more and more companies have in fact decided to invest in Bitcoin, just like Tesla. After the announcement by Elon Musk, with whom he stated that he bought $ 1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and was planning to accept this currency as a payment, the value of the cryptocurrency has skyrocketed, causing it to increase by 350% over the past 12 years. months. Bitcoin among the top 30 countries in the world for energy consumption The increasing attractiveness and appeal that this currency has, is pushing Bitcoin miners to extract as many as possible, leaving the machines perpetually running and thus increasing energy consumption. In fact, Bitcoins are not physical currencies, and therefore all transactions that are carried out online must be monitored continuously.
In essence, Bitcoins represent a real environmental threat. If Bitcoins were a state, they would be among the top 30 countries in the world for energy consumption, surpassing even Argentina. David Gerard, author of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain, concludes by stating that: “Bitcoin is literally anti-efficient. So more efficient mining hardware won't help - it will just compete with other efficient mining hardware. This means that Bitcoin's energy use, and therefore its CO2 production, is only an outward spiral ".