Mining Bitcoin Consumes More Electricity than Half of Europe

As Bitcoin continues its way towards the mainstream, it turns out that its prices are not the only thing experiencing sudden growth. New research shows that the popular cryptocurrency consumes more electricity than 20 European countries in total. Researchers from the British energy price comparison platform Power Compare have found out that the total amount of electricity necessary for mining Bitcoin now is bigger than 159 countries' individual consumption.

Among others, the list includes Ireland, Croatia, Serbia, Slovakia and Iceland.

Interesting enough, only three countries from the whole continent of Africa currently consume more electricity than Bitcoin: South Africa, Egypt and Algeria.

Power Compare also notes that the estimated current electricity consumption by the miners is 29.05 TWh, which is equivalent to 0.13 percent of the total electricity demand in the world. It means that if Bitcoin's miners created their own independent state, it would rank 61st in the world in terms of electricity consumption. This fact should give you a more comprehensive idea of ​​why the miners' community has played such an important role in the discussion of Segwit2X.

According to Power Compare, Bitcoin's mining has increased by almost 30 percent in the last 30 days.

Studies also show that, given the growth in demand for energy, mining's overall consumption may soon surpass all of the electricity supply in the UK.