Bitcoin causes 114 million tonnes of CO2 per year
Keystone-SDA
The bitcoin network generates 114 million tonnes of CO2 per year. That is roughly the same as the Czech Republic, according to figures from the crypto portal Digiconomist.
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In addition, the network of the popular cryptocurrency consumes 3,222 gigalitres of drinking water. This is comparable to the total water consumption of Switzerland.
According to Digiconomist, a single bitcoin transaction currently generates as much CO2 as watching around 117,000 hours of YouTube videos, or processing 1.5 million Visa transactions.
The bitcoin network is based on blockchain technology. The challenge is to validate transactions on the blockchain in a forgery-proof manner.
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So far, the “proof of work” method has been used for these systems. This involves solving complicated cryptographic puzzles, which ultimately generate bitcoins. This process is also known as “mining”.
In mining, many players compete with each other, but only one ultimately wins. This consumes a lot of electricity. This often comes from fossil fuel sources, which leads to high CO2 emissions.
Adapted from German by AI/ts
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