BITCOIN – A real ecologic problem
The skyrocketing value of Bitcoin is leading to soaring energy consumption. According to one widely cited website that tracks the subject, the Bitcoin network is consuming power at an annual rate of 32TWh—about as much as Denmark. By the site’s calculations, each Bitcoin transaction consumes 250kWh, enough to power homes for nine days.
Indeed, Bitcoin’s energy consumption is designed to fall in the long run. And Bitcoin’s energy consumption isn’t tied to the number of transactions the network handles. That means that increasing use of the network won’t necessarily impose a high environmental cost.
Bitcoin mining consumes substantial amounts of electricity
Bitcoin mining—the process that generates new bitcoins while maintaining the network’s shared transaction ledger—is a secretive global industry. No one knows exactly how much energy it consumes and experts fear Bitcoin to be a real ecologic problem.
According to a study by the Technical University of Munich, computers need approximately 45.8 trillion watt hours per year (as of 2018) to produce the digital currency Bitcoin, which corresponds to annual emissions of 22 to 22.9 million tons of CO2. Worldwide CO2 emissions in 2018 amounted to approximately 37 billion tons. The Bitcoin share therefore amounts to 0.06 percent of global emissions.
It becomes even more interesting if we look at the number of transactions in relation to this and make a comparison between the worldwide Bitcoin transactions and Austria. While Bitcoin is currently at about 350 thousand transactions per day and will thus reach about 128 million transactions in 2019, there were more than 800 million ATM transactions in Austria in 2018.
On the basis of the above, it can be concluded that Bitcoin is currently more than just an environmental concern. Most of the computing power is used for mining the currency and not for individual transactions. Banks also require correspondingly large IT infrastructures and the supply of cash is also environmentally harmful.
TRUST YOUR GOODS relies on blockchain – without mining
Nevertheless, to avoid the ecological Bitcoin problem, TRUST YOUR GOODS, the digital certificate of authenticity uses blockchain technology, which is not based on cryptocurrency mining to ensure the authenticity of premium products. This is why the TRUST YOUR GOODS platform is far more ecological friendly compared to systems based on token and the corresponding mining process.