The Bitcoin has a high price, regardless of its current price. Because he is a true one Energy eater. Bitcoins are exchanged according to the principle of the „Proof of Work“ created. It is intended to ensure that no one can manipulate the blockchain and forge transactions. The so-called are responsible for this Miner. You check whether a Bitcoin-Transfer is valid and create one new data block. To ensure that none of the miners cheat, they have to invest work by solving a task. You have to guess a number. This cannot be determined through calculations, but only through trial and error – a process that costs a lot of electricity. In order to secure the network and generate new Bitcoins, the miners need a lot of money Rechenpower. Instead of sweat on his forehead, a miner has an extremely high electricity bill. That’s why miners are located where electricity is cheap. For example in North of Norway. Miners are usually large companies or networks; the effort is not worth it for individuals. Due to rising energy prices in Central Europe, miners are under enormous pressure to act. When electricity prices are high, mining becomes unprofitable. According to estimates from the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, the current one is Global electricity consumption for mining is around 90 TWh per year. This benefits the network almost 0.4 percent of the electricity produced worldwide. But the Bitcoin network is only now really starting to grow. Of course, this will also significantly increase energy consumption. So what to do? New ways are already being sought to make mining more sustainable. Because if we really decide to use Bitcoin as a currency globally, energy demand will explode.
Image source: Jan Huebner