Digiconomist is committed to promoting (the development of) sustainable blockchain technology. Blockchain protocols such as Bitcoin currently run on the energy-slurping proof-of-work algorithm (creating these proofs of work is better known as “mining”). The Bitcoin Energy Consumption index is a key tool that was created to provide insight into this energy consumption amount, and raise awareness on the environmental damage caused of the proof-of-work algorithm. This page uses historical data from the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index to summarise the sustainability progress and performance of the Bitcoin protocol over the past month.
For a daily estimate of Bitcoin’s energy consumption make sure to visit the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index.
Monthly Changes
The highlights of the past month are as follows:
| Description | Value | Monthly change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Revenue | For June 2020 | ||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $9,457 | 2.37% |  |
| Average Price Volatility | 38.15% | -33.85% |  |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $28 | -0.94% | |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $249,838,124 | -26.50% | |
| Total Mining Revenue | $249,838,152 | -26.50% | |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $243,236,896 | -11.38% | |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 97.36% | 20.58% | |
| Total KWh Consumed | 4,864,737,917 | -11.38% | |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 9,164,015 | 0.10% |  |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 531 | -11.50% | |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.00 | #DIV/0! | |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $26.55 | -11.50% | |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 111,253,838,932 | 5.16% | |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.06 | -12.91% | |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 4,996,763,050 | -26.50% | |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 3,756,747,774 | 1.76% | |
Year-to-Date Sustainability Performance
Apart from the changes in monthly performance, numbers on the current year to date (YTD) performance are found in the following table.
| Description | YTD Current | YTD Previous | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Revenue | For 2020 | For 2019 | numbers up to June |
| Average Bitcoin Price | $8,439 | $5,523 | 52.80% |
| Average Price Volatility | 57.22% | 50.52% | 13.26% |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $154 | $90,446,289 | -100.00% |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $2,369,382,685 | $1,897,810,967 | 24.85% |
| Total Mining Revenue | $2,369,382,840 | $1,988,257,256 | 19.17% |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $1,753,125,405 | $1,349,179,187 | 29.94% |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 73.99% | 67.86% | 9.04% |
| Total KWh Consumed | 35,062,508,098 | 27,171,237,262 | 29.04% |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 55,180,083 | 60,880,971 | -9.36% |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 635 | 446 | 42.38% |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.00 | $1.49 | -100.00% |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $31.75 | $22.30 | 42.38% |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 217,099,090,517 | 94,064,273,674 | 130.80% |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.04 | 0.07 | -44.02% |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 47,387,656,792 | 39,765,145,123 | 19.17% |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 44,420,407,219 | 19,268,558,951 | 130.53% |
Annual Performance
Year-end performance is available in the table below as of 2017 (the year in which the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index was launched).
| Description | 2018 | 2017 | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Revenue | |||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $7,559 | $4,375 | 72.78% |
| Average Price Volatility | 64.38% | 66.78% | -3.59% |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $291,320,194 | $541,679,741 | -46.22% |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $5,854,222,152 | $2,911,553,352 | 101.07% |
| Total Mining Revenue | $6,145,542,346 | $3,453,233,093 | 77.96% |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $3,117,068,023 | $776,532,329 | 301.41% |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 50.72% | 22.49% | 125.55% |
| Total KWh Consumed | 62,349,831,163 | 15,530,646,590 | 301.46% |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 81,147,382 | 92,167,146 | -11.96% |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 768 | 169 | 354.44% |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $3.59 | $5.88 | -38.95% |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $38.40 | $8.45 | 354.44% |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 39,983,103,533 | 7,288,177,479 | 448.60% |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.18 | 0.24 | -26.84% |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 122,910,846,910 | 69,064,661,866 | 77.96% |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 40,416,917,349 | 7,365,382,998 | 448.74% |