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 May 2019 | ||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $7,245 | 41.04% |  |
| Average Price Volatility | 56.04% | -19.64% |  |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $31,831,450 | 130.96% | |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $430,939,883 | 44.20% | |
| Total Mining Revenue | $462,771,333 | 48.02% | |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $258,360,478 | 13.22% | |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 55.83% | -23.51% | |
| Total KWh Consumed | 5,167,209,565 | 13.22% | |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 11,563,882 | 5.05% |  |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 447 | 7.71% | |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $2.75 | 120.00% | |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $22.35 | 7.71% | |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 55,269,650,097 | 9.78% | |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.13 | -0.16% | |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 9,255,426,666 | 48.02% | |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 2,911,599,727 | 13.40% | |
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 (numbers up to May) | YTD Current | YTD Previous | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Revenue | For 2019 | For 2018 | |
| Average Bitcoin Price | $4,758 | $9,618 | -50.53% |
| Average Price Volatility | 47.46% | 88.70% | -46.49% |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $54,556,590 | $260,198,348 | -79.03% |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $1,353,722,564 | $3,186,117,221 | -57.51% |
| Total Mining Revenue | $1,408,279,154 | $3,446,315,569 | -59.14% |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $1,075,274,468 | $1,131,511,207 | -4.97% |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 76.35% | 32.83% | 132.56% |
| Total KWh Consumed | 21,693,142,873 | 22,630,224,144 | -4.14% |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 50,432,368 | 31,607,068 | 59.56% |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 430 | 716 | -39.94% |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $1.08 | $8.23 | -86.88% |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $21.50 | $35.80 | -39.94% |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 49,829,245,802 | 27,170,936,154 | 83.39% |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.12 | 0.23 | -47.74% |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 28,165,583,074 | 68,926,311,379 | -59.14% |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 12,793,528,512 | 6,975,088,195 | 83.42% |
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% |