Bitcoin mines aren’t just energy-hungry, it turns out they’re thirsty, too. The water consumption tied to a single Bitcoin transaction, on average, could be enough to fill a small backyard pool, according to a new analysis. Bitcoin mines are essentially big data centers, which have become notorious for how much electricity and water they use.
Bitcoin mines are essentially big data centers, which have become notorious for how much electricity and water they use.
The study was conducted by Alex de Vries, a PhD candidate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam whose previous research has tracked cryptocurrencies’ electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Those issues have moved legislators to push for more oversight of crypto mines’ environmental impact. But until recently, most of that attention has been on whether energy-intensive cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin might throw off countries’ climate goals.
Bitcoin mining also has the potential to stress water resources in drought-prone areas. Miners use specialized computers to solve puzzles around the clock to validate transactions and earn Bitcoin in return. All that computing power burns through a lot of energy. And like other data centers, many crypto mines also end up using a good deal of water in their cooling systems to keep machines from overheating.
“It’s sort of hard to surprise me, given how I’ve already worked on this topic I’m kind of used to big numbers popping up. But then again, the numbers are still mind blowing even to me every time I look at it,” de Vries told The Verge.
To conduct his analysis, de Vries estimated the direct water use from Bitcoin mines’ cooling systems. He also added their indirect water consumption associated with electricity generation, since power plants also use water in cooling systems. All in all, he found that cryptocurrency mining used about 1,600 gigaliters of water in 2021 when the price of Bitcoin peaked at over $65,000. That comes out to a small swimming pool’s worth of water (16,000 liters), on average, for each transaction. It’s about 6.2 million times more water than a credit card swipe, according to de Vries.
Of course, everything dipped in 2022 as the price of Bitcoin plunged and mining slowed. But the price has climbed back up since last year, rising from less than $20,000 to around $38,000 today. The higher the price, the more incentive there is to ramp up mining. That’s why de Vries expects the cryptocurrency’s water consumption to rise to a new high of 2,300 gigaliters worldwide this year. In the US, the biggest hub for Bitcoin mining in the world, Bitcoin mining uses about as much annually as a city the size of Washington, DC.
These numbers are estimates based on the assumption that the Bitcoin mines run on water-dependent cooling systems typical in large data centers. However, some data centers and crypto mines use a different system that keeps computers cool and cuts down water consumption by immersing them in a non-conductive liquid.
There’s another way to get the cryptocurrency to use a fraction of the water and electricity it eats up now and slash greenhouse gas emissions: get rid of the mining process altogether and find a new way to validate transactions. That’s what the next biggest cryptocurrency network, Ethereum, accomplished last year.
If Bitcoin was to do something similar, “all the electricity consumption, associated water consumption, that will just disappear overnight. You know, we can make it happen,” de Vries said. “Apparently, people still prefer to argue that the network isn’t as bad as we think it is, rather than actually trying to do something about it.”
FAQs
Bitcoin mines aren't just energy-hungry, it turns out they're thirsty, too. The water consumption tied to a single Bitcoin transaction, on average, could be enough to fill a small backyard pool, according to a new analysis.
Does Bitcoin mining use a lot of water? ›
Alex de Vries: Bitcoin miners in the US currently consume up to 120 GL of fresh water per year. This is enough to supply 300,000 households. However, Bitcoin miners in the US are not responsible for the largest share of the worldwide network's water footprint.
Why do bitcoin miners use so much electricity? ›
The computational effort needed to support profitable cryptocurrency mining consumes large amounts of electricity to operate the machines as well as to cool equipment to prevent overheating.
What is the water footprint of Bitcoin? ›
The water and carbon footprint of cryptocurrencies and conventional currencies. and using the same estimated water consumption factors for electricity generation per country, the water footprint of Bitcoin in 2021 was determined to be 1,573.7 GL (Data S1).
How much electricity is needed for Bitcoin mining? ›
Crypto mining uses a lot of electricity
The University of Cambridge's Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index estimated worldwide bitcoin mining used 121.13 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2023.
How wasteful is Bitcoin mining? ›
Bitcoin's e-waste adds up to 30.7 metric kilotons annually, which is comparable to the amount of IT and telecommunication equipment waste produced by the Netherlands, according to de Vries and Stoll. The amount of e-waste generated by bitcoin mining alone could surpass current global estimates.
How many gallons of water does a Bitcoin use? ›
Each Bitcoin transaction uses 4,200 gallons of water — enough to fill a swimming pool — and could potentially cause freshwater shortages.
What uses more electricity than Bitcoin? ›
However, overall, the banking system requires more energy than Bitcoin. Cash and card transactions still emit fewer emissions than Bitcoin on a per-transaction basis. In the U.S., around three-quarters of all payments are by card.
How long does it take to mine 1 Bitcoin? ›
How Long Does It Take to Mine 1 Bitcoin? The reward for mining is 3.125 bitcoins. It takes the network about 10 minutes to mine one block, so it takes about 10 minutes to mine 3.125 bitcoins.
How much do bitcoin miners make a day? ›
Bitcoin Miners Revenue Per Day is at a current level of 32.23M, up from 29.82M yesterday and up from 28.99M one year ago. This is a change of 8.08% from yesterday and 11.15% from one year ago.
40% of bitcoin investors are now underwater, new data shows
Bitcoin is off nearly 55% from its November peak, and 40% of holders are now underwater on their investments, according to new data from Glassnode.
How much of Bitcoin is clean energy? ›
Bitcoin mining has achieved a new sustainability milestone, with 54.5% of its energy consumption now powered by renewable sources, according to the Bitcoin ESG Forecast, a research series by Daniel Batten, a co-founder of methane mitigation fund CH4 Capital.
Why is Bitcoin so liquid? ›
Exchanges. The increased number of trusted Bitcoin exchanges allowed more people to trade their coins. The increase in frequency and trading volume helps to enhance liquidity.
What is the cost to mine 1 Bitcoin? ›
CoinShares tells us it is about $53,000 to mine one Bitcoin these days, and that is an average that large mining companies spend on one BTC. For those who do not know, halving means miners get half the Bitcoin they used to get for decoding blocks that contain data about the Bitcoin network.
How many computers do you need to mine Bitcoin? ›
The resources required for mining Bitcoin include: At least one specialized computer (called an Application-specific Integrated Circuit or ASIC miner) designed to compete for and support a particular cryptocurrency. A reliable and inexpensive energy supply. A dependable internet connection.
How many bitcoins are left to mine? ›
According to the Bitcoin protocol, the maximum number of bitcoins that can be created is 21 million. As of March 2023, approximately 18.9 million bitcoins have been mined, meaning there are around 2.1 million bitcoins left to be mined.
Is Bitcoin mining bad for health? ›
Each $1 of Bitcoin value created in 2018 was responsible for $0.49 in health and climate damages in the U.S. and $0.37 in China, researchers report in a new study. The reason is that cryptocurrency mining uses a lot of electricity.
Does mining take a lot of water? ›
But most mining operations require a lot of water, and many are in arid regions in the world. Water is essential for mineral processing, tailings and waste management, and dust suppression. A medium-sized open pit mine may use and recycle eight million gallons of water every day for basic operations.
How much water does mining use? ›
No water is used in actual drilling, but up to 1,000 gallons per core may be used in explo ration and mine development. Relatively large volumes of water are used at kaolin processing plants, which are usually lo cated some distance from the mining area.
How clean is Bitcoin mining? ›
Bitcoin mining operations are estimated to produce nearly as much greenhouse gas emissions annually as the country of Morocco. Bitcoin mines are data farms filled with specialized hardware that solve computational puzzles around the clock for a chance to validate new transactions on the blockchain.
