Bitcoin is the world's most popular cryptocurrency, but new research suggests that its environmental impact may be underappreciated.
In a new study, US researchers present the energy-related climate damage caused by human activities, including bitcoin mining, over the past five years.
Bitcoin mining is a process in which new bitcoins are created by solving computational problems. This process consumes a huge amount of energy.
Bitcoin mining uses more energy than the European country of Austria each year and is more environmentally costly than producing beef or mining precious metals such as gold and copper, experts say.
Experts say that instead of considering Bitcoin as digital gold, it should be compared to energy-intensive commodities.
This research, published in Scientific Reports, was conducted under the guidance of researchers from the University of New Mexico in the United States. "We found no evidence that bitcoin mining became more sustainable over time," said study author and university professor Benjamin A. Jones. becoming more dirty and harmful to the climate. In short, Bitcoin's ecosystem is headed in the wrong direction, he said.
he Digiconomist's Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index estimated that one bitcoin transaction takes 1,449 kWh to complete, or the equivalent of approximately 50 days of power for the average US household.
Due to increased competition and reduced supply, each miner has to put more computing power into the mining process. Mining a single block or coin is very energy intensive and therefore expensive, as each miner has to cover their own electricity bills.