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| comment | | "parent_author":"",<br>"parent_permlink":"bitcoin",<br>"author":"kalyanvlog",<br>"permlink":"the-cost-of-success-bitcoin-mining-consumes-more-electricity-than-159-countries",<br>"title":"The Cost of Success: Bitcoin Mining Consumes More Electricity than 159 Countries",<br>"body":"https:\/\/www.crypto-news.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/bigstock-btc-energy-640x640.jpg\n\n2017 has been an explosive year for cryptocurrency. It\u2019s striding towards widespread adoption as new money is entering the market with each passing day,<br> and even though Bitcoin\u2019s market dominance has shrunk to 53.4% of crypto\u2019s overall market cap,<br> people are still flocking to crypto\u2019s king. On 11\/29\/17,<br> for instance,<br> it reached an all-time high of over $11,<br>400.\n\nIncreased adoption means stimulated growth,<br> but this growth comes at a price. Under Bitcoin\u2019s Proof of Work algorithm,<br> miners compete with each other to process transactions into the blockchain\u2019s public ledger,<br> and the first miner to finish the candidate block receives Bitcoin as a block reward. Every 2,<br>016 blocks,<br> Bitcoin undergoes a difficulty adjustment to keep the transaction rate balanced. The more miners that are on the network,<br> the more likely the adjustment will increase hashing difficulty. In order to stay competitive,<br> miners must increase their computer\u2019s hash rate (work output) to keep up with this increase.\ufffd\n\nAn Energy Crisis in the Making\n\nWithin Bitcoin\u2019s growth lies the problem: as more blocks are created and Bitcoin\u2019s difficulty increases,<br> it will take more hashing power to verify transactions. In order to increase this hashing power,<br> miners have to consume more energy to make sure their computers are working fast enough to keep up with other miners. Miners use up so much energy,<br> in fact,<br> that Bitcoin mining now accounts for 0.13% of the world\u2019s overall energy consumption. That\u2019s an estimated 29.05TWh annually,<br> or more than 159 countries including Ireland,<br> nearly all of Africa,<br> and the Caribbean.\n\nhttps:\/\/www.crypto-news.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/bitcoinenergymap.png\n\nAs we previously noted,<br> Bitcoin\u2019s growth is synonymous with this increase in energy consumption. In the past month,<br> Bitcoin\u2019s overall price has increased about 40%,<br> and this is coupled with a 29.98% increase in electricity expended on mining. While the former\u2019s increase puts global mining profits at $8,<br>155,<br>339,<br>398 annually,<br> it also places estimated global mining costs at $1,<br>506,<br>898,<br>519. \ufffd\n\nChina and the United States lead the pack in annual energy consumption at 5,<br>920,<br>000,<br>000,<br>000.00 and 3,<br>913,<br>000,<br>000,<br>000.00 KWh,<br> respectively. Russia,<br> India,<br> and Japan follow suit as the next three largest consumers.\n\nWhen we compare Bitcoin\u2019s energy consumption to other forms of financial transactions,<br> the comparison puts Bitcoin\u2019s energy expenses in an unfavorable perspective. Take Visa,<br> for example. Visa processed 82.3 billion transactions in 2016,<br> and the data centers that process these transactions consumed enough energy to power 50,<br>000 US households. While we\u2019re comparing Visa\u2019s 82.3 billion to the nearly 280 million transactions Bitcoin has processed in the past year,<br> the difference is staggering when we acknowledge that Bitcoin\u2019s electrical expenditures could have provided energy to 2.4 million American homes.\n\nAccording to Digiconimist\u2019s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index,<br> Bitcoin\u2019s mining power could consume more energy than the whole of the United States by July 2019. At its current rate,<br> it is estimated to eclipse total global energy consumption by 2020.\n\nhttps:\/\/www.crypto-news.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/bitcoinenergychart.png\n\nWhat this Means for Bitcoin\u2019s (and Crypto\u2019s) Future\n\nThere\u2019s no reason to think that critiquing Bitcoin\u2019s energy problem should compromise your belief in cryptocurrency\u2019s revolutionary potential. Many of us in the crypto community want Satoshi Nakamoto\u2019s vision to survive,<br> and if we want to ensure that it does,<br> we need to improve on the inevitable shortcomings widespread adoption will expose. The energy problem is one such shortcoming.\n\nSome have argued that solar energy could answer this problem. If we want to make Bitcoin mining more sustainable,<br> powering mining rigs with solar panels may be a feasible solution. \ufffd\n\nProof of Stake algorithms could also help ameliorate the energy issue. Under the Proof of Stake system,<br> transactions are confirmed and blocks created by validators who keep a large number of coins staked in the network. The algorithm randomly selects a validator to build blocks based on how much of the staked currency they own and how long they\u2019ve held it in the blockchain\u2019s core wallet.\n\nEthereum has plans to move to a Proof of Stake model by 2018,<br> and as crypto\u2019s second largest asset and energy consumer,<br> this will likely reduce crypto\u2019s overall carbon footprint if the integration is successful. We\u2019ll see if Bitcoin follows suit. Whether or not it does,<br> growing adoption of Bitcoin will only exacerbate the electrical consumption issue,<br> and some form of a solution must be reached if Bitcoin\u2019s future is to remain intact.",<br>"json_metadata":" \"tags\":[\"bitcoin\",<br>\"mining\",<br>\"cryptocurrency\",<br>\"news\",<br>\"cryptocurrencylatestnews\" ,<br>\"image\":[\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/bigstock-btc-energy-640x640.jpg\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/bitcoinenergymap.png\",<br>\"https:\/\/www.crypto-news.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/bitcoinenergychart.png\" ,<br>\"app\":\"steemit\/0.1\",<br>\"format\":\"markdown\" " | | vote | "voter":"kalyanvlog",
"author":"kalyanvlog",
"permlink":"the-cost-of-success-bitcoin-mining-consumes-more-electricity-than-159-countries",
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