Bitcoin Network Consuming More Energy Than Switzerland

It is a well-established fact that Bitcoin needs significantly higher electricity, which is utilized by miners globally for running the computer system necessary for network maintenance and payment validation.

According to fresh estimates released by researchers at the University of Cambridge, Bitcoin consumes more energy than the entire Swiss nation. An online tool launched last week called the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) estimates how much energy is needed to maintain the Bitcoin network in real time.

The index has been developed in response to growing concerns over the sustainability and environmental impact of Bitcoin mining, which relies on computation-heavy cryptographic operations that require significant amounts of electricity.

The CBECI is currently saying that the worldwide Bitcoin network consumes more than 7 gigawatts of electricity. Over the course of a year, the energy consumption is about 64 TWh or terawatt hours. This is more than Switzerland utilizes over the same span of time (58 TWh a year). As noted in the official blog post that announced the CBECI:

Reliable estimates of Bitcoin’s electricity usage are rare: in most cases, they only provide a one-time snapshot and the numbers often show substantial discrepancies from one model to another.

Although the figures are estimated, it certainly evokes many questions and concerns over the environmental effects, especially the massive carbon footprint that such a huge energy consumption can lead to considering that the bitcoin is not widely used- imagine the environmental effects bitcoin would produce if it is the only currency in the world. This kind of study certainly gives a wake-up call to bitcoin fanatics who want the cryptocurrency to be the sole tender of the world.