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Bitcoin critics like to talk of the negatives associated with the impact mining has on the environment. But in reality, the cost of obtaining digital currencies in comparison to gold or fiat money is rather low, both for the environment and the economy.



Let's look at the numbers, in terms of the economy, it costs $0.79bn a year to mine bitcoins. It’s peanuts in comparison to $105bn spend on gold extraction, and don’t forget to add another $40bn on its processing. And the banking system outlay is even higher, at $1.87tr.



And its similar when we get to the impact on the environment. Bitcoin mining consumes around 3.6ml gigajoule of energy, while the CO2 emissions are at 0.6ml tonnes. In comparison, it takes 36.9ml gigajoules of energy to produce printed money and mint coins, and that’s alongside a 6.7ml tonnes of CO2 emissions.

