Bitcoin and its Energy consumption: Is it really a tragedy?
The problem isn’t really with Bitcoin mining. Let’s face it: there has been an intensified crusade against BTC recently. And especially with regard to the production of CO2.
An all-out attack on BTC
Infamous billionaire and Tesla owner Elon Musk has announced that his company no longer accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment for its cars. This is because the PTS consumes too much energy. But he did not get rid of such” bad ” Bitcoins, but simply said that Tesla no longer accepts them.
Well, who would believe that Elon Musk did not know about the energy consumption of Bitcoin before investing in it, and making it a means of payment. This suggests two possible scenarios: either he is really a naive entrepreneur, and discovered this aspect only after Tesla began to accept the MTC, or he just made a speculative move to adjust the direction of the market.
It is naive to assume that Musk is ignorant about cryptocurrencies. Given its international importance, popularity and influence on the crypto community (which is paradoxical in itself), it should not be assumed that the morning begins with the thoughts: “Should I stir up the cryptocurrency market before working?” It is a unique tool for manipulating the crypto markets by those behind it.
But let’s take a step back to Bitcoin’s disproportionate electricity consumption.
In the graph below, we can see the electricity consumption around the world.
BTC: Electricity consumption
Indeed, Bitcoin consumes more than Argentina, as numerous journalists and insiders confirm. But let’s try to do a deeper analysis, rather than looking at it superficially.
The world produces 25,000 terawatts / hours per year, of which 5,000 terawatts / hours are wasted. That is, they are produced, but not used, and therefore lost.
If you do a small calculation, it turns out that Bitcoin consumes 0.6% of global production, and 3% of total production is lost.
Now, more than ever, Einstein’s system theory is true: if we take Argentina as a benchmark, BTC consumes monstrous levels, but if we take global consumption as a benchmark, it will be like turning on an LED light bulb.
And that’s not all. Let’s try to give this an entrepreneurial touch.
We said that 150 TWh of BTC consumption corresponds to 3% of wasted energy. And if this 3% could be sold to miners, then network operators could earn 3% more. If the network operators will be located in such areas, I think they will not get much income from earnings.
No environmental pollution
Yes, because many entrepreneurs were looking for a place to sell their mining farm running on renewable energy sources at competitive prices, and many have moved in this direction.
In China, for example, the Sichuan region fully supplies its mining farms with hydroelectric power during the rainy season.
All this emphasizes that it is always better to approach the same issue from several sides in order to try to form a complete and critical opinion.
It’s worth giving another example: since China uses a lot of coal to generate electricity, do you think Elon Musk will stop selling his cars in China?
What about the social sustainability of semiconductor mining? Does Mr. Tesla use methods that are 100% free of worker exploitation? Or, looking at the graph below, does it stop accepting dollars or euros to pay for its cars?
Bank consumption
It’s unlikely.