UN Says There is a Correlation Between Bitcoin Price and Network Energy Consumption

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After researching 76 mining companies, UN scientists concluded that the increase in their energy consumption to 173.42 TWh in 2020-2021 happened at the same time as Bitcoin reached its all-time high of $69,000.

The data showed that there was a 400% increase in the value of Bitcoin during this period, which coincided with a 140% jump in energy usage for its production on a global scale.

The UN also highlighted the environmental impact of mining operations, with 67% of energy coming from non-renewable sources and only 16%, 9%, 5%, and 2% from hydroelectric, nuclear, wind, and solar sources respectively.

The report also pointed out the top 10 countries for bitcoin mining – China, the United States, Kazakhstan, Russia, Malaysia, Canada, Germany, Iran, Ireland, and Singapore – were responsible for 92-94% of carbon emissions globally.

However, the crypto community criticized the report for using “unscientific ideas,” citing a quote about Bitcoin’s carbon footprint in 2017 which has since been disproven.

The study at the time failed to account for unprofitable mining equipment, leading to inaccurate emission estimates.