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 March 2020 | ||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $6,891 | -28.52% |  |
| Average Price Volatility | 80.22% | 105.53% |  |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $22 | -21.13% | |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $404,503,507 | -21.46% | |
| Total Mining Revenue | $404,503,529 | -21.46% | |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $317,638,854 | 4.50% | |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 78.53% | 33.06% | |
| Total KWh Consumed | 6,352,777,082 | 4.50% | |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 9,145,801 | -3.30% |  |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 695 | 8.09% | |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.00 | #DIV/0! | |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $34.75 | 8.09% | |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 103,667,722,098 | -6.66% | |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.08 | 4.83% | |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 8,090,070,588 | -21.46% | |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 3,771,039,583 | -0.32% | |
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 March |
| Average Bitcoin Price | $8,245 | $3,775 | 118.41% |
| Average Price Volatility | 54.99% | 37.08% | 48.30% |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $76 | $8,942,794 | -100.00% |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $1,392,977,971 | $623,923,983 | 123.26% |
| Total Mining Revenue | $1,392,978,047 | $632,866,777 | 120.11% |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $932,433,257 | $588,720,787 | 58.38% |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 66.94% | 93.02% | -28.04% |
| Total KWh Consumed | 18,648,665,140 | 11,962,069,262 | 55.90% |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 28,181,299 | 27,860,915 | 1.15% |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 662 | 429 | 54.31% |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.00 | $0.32 | -100.00% |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $33.10 | $21.45 | 54.31% |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 215,539,523,904 | 86,915,273,029 | 147.99% |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.04 | 0.06 | -37.14% |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 27,859,560,937 | 12,657,335,544 | 120.11% |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 23,034,418,404 | 9,287,320,856 | 148.02% |
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% |