Although the operation of Bitcoin transactions may seem complex, it can be said, in summary, that every time this cryptocurrency is bought or sold a large amount of energy ends up wastedsometimes resources like water.
And now according to a new study, every time you buy or sell Bitcoin Enough water is wasted to fill an entire swimming pool, demonstrating the staggering environmental impact of cryptocurrencies.
This research published in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability has found that Bitcoin’s water footprint is increasing by up to 166% from 2020 to 2021.
Estimate that each transaction uses more than 16,000 l of wateraround 6 million times more than what is used when buying something with a credit card.
“It’s a bit difficult to surprise me, since I’ve already worked on this topic, I’m used to big numbers appearing. But of course, the numbers are still mind-blowing even to me every time I look at them,” says Alex de Vries from la Vrihe. Universiteit Amsterdam to The Verge.
It is estimated that globally, Bitcoin mining used around 1,600 gigalitres in 2021, and the figure could exceed 2,200 gigalitres in 2023.
This increase in the issue of transactions is due to the increasing value of Bitcoinwhich has been improving for months.
And a huge amount of water is used to cool the computers that extract and process Bitcoins 24 hours a day, a process that obviously consumes incredible amounts of energy.
To this end, he explains that most of the cryptocurrencies They use proof of work to validate transactions on the blockchain, something he considers “totally inefficient.”
“There are millions of devices around the world, constantly competing with each other in a massive game of what I like to describe as ‘guess the number,'” de Vries told the BBC. “All these machines combined generate 500 quintillion guesses every second of the day, non-stop; that is, 500 with 18 zeros after them.”
The solution could be to use the Ethereum technique that last year began using “proof of stake”, thus reducing your energy bill by 99%.
