Key facts:
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The Bitcoin network reached its highest consumption last May.
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The fall in consumption may be due, in part, to more efficient use of energy.
The matrix of opinion created about Bitcoin (BTC), the consumption of electricity and its supposed pollution, are losing more and more strength.
The University of Cambridge reports today, July 9, that Bitcoin’s electricity consumption it fell by 60% in two months, reaching October 2020 levels. The data was extracted from Cambridge’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index.
The study shows that Bitcoin currently consumes 67 terawatt-hours (TWh), while last May came to consume 141 TWh, the largest electricity consumption in the history of the leading cryptocurrency.
The previous lowest electricity consumption by mining was in October 2020, when he was on 56 TWhhighlights the report.
Cambridge data is close to a study recently released by the Bitcoin Mining Council. This study shows that the network consumes 180 TW / h.
Moreover, in the poll, which was reported by Crypto News, the Council founded in May 2021 with the support of some of the largest mining companies in the Bitcoin industry, reported that 56% of BTC miners use sustainable energy.
It can be interpreted that the energy it consumes the industry is becoming more efficient, without ceasing to provide its services and with a network that operates without any interruptions.
China and Iran contribute to the fall in electricity consumption
Another reason that has caused the fall of electricity consumption by Bitcoin, could be related to the latest events of miners in China.
It is worth remembering that the Chinese authorities forced closure of Bitcoin mining facilities in 5 provinces: Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Yunnan, as reported by Crypto News.
Such a decision lowered the processing power of the Bitcoin networkwhich, to a large extent, was provided by companies operating in the Asian country. For the month of May the hash rate it reached 189 EH / s. It is currently at 91EH / s, according to Bitinfocharts.
Measures similar to those of China were recently taken in Iran. The government of that country requested all cryptocurrency miners operating legally, to stop mining for the alleged impact of the activity on the country’s electricity consumption. This industry, according to the Government’s opinion, would be responsible for major nationwide blackouts.
China US hash rate transfer UU.
Given the departure of several mining companies from Chinese territory, everything seems to indicate that between the 30 and 40 percent of processing power or hash rate bitcoin will move from China to the United States in the remainder of this year, according to research by Hashrate Index, collected by CriptoNoticias.