According to data posted by a Twitter user who goes by the name Asimov, gold mining is 23 times more energy consuming than Bitcoin mining. The data also covers statistics on paper currency and minting, banking systems, and governments.

Bitcoin mining vs Gold mining

According to the stats, gold mining costs around $105 billion a year and consumes around 475 million GJ while Bitcoin mining costs $4.5 billion and consumes 183 million GJ every year. Bitcoin has the least consumption compared to the other institutions on the list. Governments consume the most energy at 5,861 million GJ at the cost of $27,600 billion. Next is banking systems that consume 2,340 million $1,870 billion.

Third, is gold mining followed by gold recycling at position four which consumes 25 million GJ at the cost of $40 billion. Occupying position five is paper currency, and minting which consumes $25 million at the cost of $40 billion and Bitcoin is last on the list.

The stats on gold mining vs Bitcoin mining are particularly impressive given that one of the major arguments against the existence of Bitcoin has been its consumption of electricity and the costs involved which have been termed as extravagant. Even though there have been numerous scientific proofs that this is not the case, some individuals and governments who are against the top cryptocurrency have been adamant.

Over the years, there have been stories on how much electricity Bitcoin mining consumes with some claiming that the activity consumes more power than 82% of all nations of the world. There was even a story about a Bitcoin mining firm in Mongolia that uses as much energy as a Boeing 737.

However, there have been some favorable stories on the activity with some claiming that it can be good for the environment even though the criteria for the calculations is not entirely clear.

What’s your take on these stats that show the amount of energy and cost involved in mining Bitcoin? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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