The activity of crypto-currencies causes a considerable electrical expense. What will be the consequences in the future?

In 2013, we presented the cryptocurrency "bitcoin" and explained the general operation. The value of a bitcoin mentioned was 100 euros corresponding to about the average price of September 2013. Today, a bitcoin is worth more than 5000 euros. The bitcoin value has been multiplied by more than 50.

But what about energy expenditure?

The computer network that allows the operation of bitcoin exchanges and their security burns a significant amount of electrical energy. It is evaluated by the specialized Digiconomist site at 23 TWh per year, which corresponds to the annual electrical expenditure of more than 2 million American households, or 0.10% of all the world's electricity production.

This amount of energy burned by the network is soon to grow. As the bitcoin price has recently increased a lot, it has been multiplied by more than 8 in one year, the consumption adjustment linked to the current price has not totally taken place and will be done by multiplying the electricity consumption of the current network by at least two in the next few months. This is a certainty ... unless the price of bitcoin falls.

This will lead to a consumption of bitcoin's computer network of at least 40 TWh per year, equivalent to that of a country like Peru or New Zealand.

For more info on the subject, see: https://bitcoin.fr/la-depense-electrique-des-crypto-monnaies/