A groundbreaking research on Bitcoin has revealed {that a} single transaction of the world’s hottest cryptocurrency might make the most of an quantity of water equal to filling a typical backyard swimming pool. Printed within the journal Cell Studies Sustainability, the analysis estimates that Bitcoin mining, a necessary course of in creating new cash, consumed over 1,600 gigalitres of water globally in 2021, with every transaction utilizing a median of 16,000 litres.
The staggering scale of water consumption related to Bitcoin mining poses a possible risk to ingesting water provides, notably in areas already grappling with water shortage. The research underscores the pressing want for regulatory measures to handle the environmental affect of Bitcoin mining, as unregulated operations might exacerbate water shortages, particularly in nations comparable to the US.
Bitcoin mining, which entails fixing complicated mathematical equations to earn a share of the cryptocurrency’s worth, calls for vital computing energy. The method requires huge quantities of water for cooling computer systems at massive information facilities and regulating the temperature of coal and gas-fired energy vegetation that assist the mining operations.
Alex de Vries, the research’s creator and a Ph.D. scholar at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, vividly illustrated the water utilization, stating, “It is only one yard swimming pool going, going up within the air, actually evaporating on common per Bitcoin transaction.”
The environmental affect of Bitcoin mining has been extensively documented, with information from the United Nations College revealing that the cryptocurrency’s vitality consumption in 2020 surpassed the overall vitality consumption of nations like Pakistan. Whereas vitality consumption has been a focus, water utilization in Bitcoin transactions has been underreported and is anticipated to turn into a rising concern.
With Bitcoin’s worth surpassing $38,000 (€34,600), experiencing an almost 5 % enhance in per week, de Vries anticipates that Bitcoin’s water consumption could surge to 2,300 gigalitres, a 40 % enhance in comparison with 2021. The report highlights potential challenges for nations like Kazakhstan, a Bitcoin mining hub in Central Asia, the place a dry local weather strains freshwater provides.
De Vries argues towards utilizing renewable vitality as a panacea for Bitcoin’s carbon footprint, asserting that the restricted availability of renewable vitality in lots of nations, together with the US, makes it an impractical resolution. As a substitute, he means that altering Bitcoin’s know-how to be extra environmentally pleasant, comparable to adopting the Proof of Stake mannequin, might reverse the crypto’s environmental injury in a single day.
Whereas Ethereum efficiently transitioned to Proof of Stake in 2022, Bitcoin’s reluctance to embrace change, attributed to traditionalism amongst miners, could hinder environmental progress. De Vries warns that the inherent worth of Bitcoin lies in its resistance to vary, regardless of the potential dangers related to sustaining the established order. Because the final Bitcoin is predicted to be mined by 2040, the cryptocurrency faces a long-term dilemma in balancing its intrinsic worth with environmental sustainability.