The world has always been like this; whenever something peculiar or unique unfolds before its eyes, the world begins to nullify it or find faults. A similar thing is happening with the Bitcoin energy consumption issue. Opponents of this cryptocurrency are claiming that Bitcoin wastes more energy resources than the benefits it harbors. But is that really the case? Let's find out!

Counting Bitcoin's Energy Utilization

When it comes to Bitcoin's use of energy, it most certainly uses a lot of it. To unlock a Bitcoin, a large sum of computational power is needed. The generation of this much power is not something you can do by sitting in your pajamas in front of your computer. However, saying that the energy consumption by this currency is exorbitant is not correct! It is because Bitcoin uses far less energy than banking. The stats speak for themselves:

Bitcoin and energy consumption compared to banking and gold mining.

Source: ARK Investment Management, https://medium.com/@danhedl/pow-is-efficient-aa3d442754d3 and https://www.coindesk.com/microscope-economic-environmental-costs-bitcoin-mining

 Instead of pointing fingers at Bitcoin's energy consumption, we should compare it with the banking system and find out who eats more and who doesn't! Because this is what Bitcoin potentially does, compete with the banking system. Where traditional banking consumes about 2.34 billion gigajoules per year, Bitcoin only consumes 184 million gigajoules annually.

Even the energy consumption by gold mining is 500 million gigajoules per year, making Bitcoin's expenditure far lesser. Do you know what's even more surprising? The dollar cost per GJ used up by Bitcoin mining is significantly more efficient than regular banking and gold mining, respectively. There’s no way to prove that Bitcoin is something that will bring harm to this world in this regard compared to reasonable benchmarks.

Environmental Impact of Bitcoin Mining

There is simply no doubt that Bitcoin has a bright future ahead. Not only because its energy consumption is low as compared to regular banking but also because its mining can easily be done in an eco-friendly way. Hydropower, which is a renewable electricity resource, is a very cheap way of producing electricity and is aiding a lot in the production of Bitcoin.

Not only is it a cheap way of generating electricity but it is also a low-carbon resource. Areas like Pacific Northwest are exploding with Bitcoin mining with this cheap power resource, i.e, Hydropower. With a minimal impact on the environment, Bitcoin is getting ready to take over the world!

Resistance to Attacks

Another plus point regarding Bitcoin's energy consumption is that it provides resistance against any sort attacks. Yes, you heard it right! According to an estimate, an attacker will have to spend hideous amounts for a 51% attack on Bitcoin's network. So, while the mining of this cryptocurrency consumes a large sum of energy, it also shields the blockchain against such attacks.

Even then, Bitcoin mining is way less expensive than its alternative systems. What more do you need than something that does not only make you rich but also protects your assets from vicious monsters?