Recently, I created an article on the energy required to mine and spend Bitcoin. Bitcoin is a very common topic at the moment, but many may not realise the effects that Bitcoin can have on the environment. When you look at other financial transactions, Bitcoin is far less efficient than the majority of them.
Some of the statistics involved with Bitcoin mining were startling, these comparisons below were just a few of them:
- 1 Bitcoin Transaction = 720,792 VISA transactions
- 1 Bitcoin Transaction = 54,203 hours of watching Youtube
- 1 Bitcoin Transaction = 6,058 cups of espresso
Also, Bitcoin mining uses the same energy per year as some major countries. 19 European countries are included in this list, most notably Serbia, Belgium and The Netherlands.
Unfortunately, Bitcoin miners seek the lowest costing power source, which usually produces high carbon emissions. This will only increase as the popularity of Bitcoin soars. Hopefully, this piece can raise awareness for the need for renewable energy for Bitcoin, or the reduction of Bitcoin transactions.