05 July 2019 12:22, UTC

A recent study of Bitcoin in terms of energy efficiency showed that mining the first cryptocurrency consumes more electricity than the whole of Switzerland.

The research was performed by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance. The new indicator is known as the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Index (CBECI). The platform estimates how much energy is required to maintain bitcoin operations in real time, then calculates the annual amount. At the moment, Bitcoin uses more than 7 GW of electricity, which in terms of 12 months is about 64 TW/h. For comparison, Switzerland uses about 58 TW/h.

One of the developers of the CBECI index, Michel RAUCHS, explains the research principle:

“We want to use comparisons that set the narrative. Visitors of the website can make up their own minds as to whether it seems large or small.”

The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance – acknowledges that the platform’s findings aren’t 100% accurate. It also states that several indexes exist for measuring Bitcoin’s energy consumption, and most seem to produce different results. In a blog post, the company mentions:

“Reliable estimates of bitcoin’s electricity usage are rare. In most cases, they only provide a one-time snapshot and the numbers often show substantial discrepancies from one model to another.”

At the time of publication, Bitcoin is trading at $ 10,900.

Image courtesy of Fabrice Grinda

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