In the first few months of 2024, Bitcoin miners in the United States spent a staggering $2.7 billion on electricity, according to Paul Hoffman, an analyst at Best Brokers. He revealed that Bitcoin mining in the country consumed a massive 20,822.62 GWh of electric power since the beginning of the year. Based on the average commercial electricity rate of $0.1281 per kWh in February, this amounted to an expenditure of $2,667,378,196.47.
Hoffman further elaborated on the energy consumption, stating that this amount of energy could charge every electric vehicle in the United States 87.52 times or provide power to 1,983,107 households for a year, which accounted for 1.51% of all U.S. households.
On a global scale, a total of 116,550 Bitcoins (BTC), valued at $8.2 billion, have been mined year to date, with U.S. miners contributing 44,102 BTC or 37.84% of global production. Prior to the halving event in April, mining 1 BTC required 407,059.01 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power, costing approximately $52,144.26. However, since then, the power consumption has increased to 862,635.55 kWh per 1 BTC, with an average cost of $110,503.61 at commercial rates.
Despite its significant energy usage, Bitcoin mining remains the only major global industry primarily powered by sustainable energy. The Bitcoin ESG Forecast reported in January that the use of sustainable energy in Bitcoin mining had reached a new all-time high of 54.5%, with a 3.6% overall increase in sustainable mining throughout 2023.
After the ban on mining in China and the effective prohibition in Kazakhstan, miners have predominantly shifted to greener grids in North America or sustainable off-grid sites. Currently, approximately 19.5 million Bitcoins have been mined out of a total supply of 21 million.
Historical data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index indicates the annualized electricity consumption of Bitcoin mining. Public Bitcoin miners have also secured $2 billion in financing ahead of the halving event.
Historical annualized electricity consumption of Bitcoin mining. Source: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index
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Public Bitcoin miners secured $2B in financing ahead of halving