The environmental burden of the United States’ #bitcoin #mining #boom

Source: nature.com/articles/s41467-025…

From mid-2022 to mid-2023, the 34 mines consumed 32.3 terawatt-hours of #electricity — 33% more than Los Angeles—85% of which came from #fossil #fuels.

#btc #usa #earth #environment #climate #finance #politics #Problem #money #nature #emissions #crypto #hype #blockchain

The environmental burden of the United States’ bitcoin mining boom - Nature Communications

The paper maps air pollution from power plants supplying electricity to US Bitcoin mines. It finds that 1.9 million people in 2022-2023 breathed toxic amounts of Bitcoin mine attributable pollution, particularly around New York City and Houston.

^Nature

Where are the socially useful application scenarios for #Bitcoins / #Crypto?

I can only think of 3 and they are rather undesirable:

1) To #pay at illegal marketplaces like #SilkRoad on the #Darknet.
2) On #terror financing.
3) To pay the #ransom for #encryption Trojans.

For everything else, the high transaction costs are not worth it at all.

#finance #question #society #money #crime #cybercrime #transaction #software #problem #economy #finance #scam #btc #bitcoin #cryptocurrency