The debate over bitcoin's energy consumption is heating up faster than the planet, with corporations facing backlash from the public and shareholders over bitcoin investments.
According to a Citigroup Inc. report, bitcoin consumes 66 times more electricity than it did in 2015. It added that mining-related carbon emissions are likely to come under increasing scrutiny, according to Bloomberg .
That finding is supported by new research from Mastercard - which just released its own carbon calculator - that shows 54 percent of people think it's more important to protect the environment now than before COVID-19.
The Citigroup report, citing data from the Cambridge University Center for Alternative Finance, found that global power demand for the Bitcoin network has reached 143 terawatt-hours on an annualized basis. That's about 4% more than Argentina's total electricity generation in 2019.
The Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index (CBECI) currently estimates that annual bitcoin electricity consumption is currently somewhere between Sweden and Malaysia at 141.6 TWh per year.
