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 | March Value | Monthly change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Revenue | |||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $3,948 | 6.99% |  |
| Average Price Volatility | 27.38% | -12.33% |  |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $3,866,277 | 37.95% | |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $230,785,627 | 22.97% | |
| Total Mining Revenue | $234,651,904 | 23.19% | |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $215,266,341 | 20.49% | |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 91.74% | -2.19% | |
| Total KWh Consumed | 4,305,326,822 | 17.53% | |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 9,466,302 | 2.13% |  |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 455 | 15.19% | |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.41 | 36.67% | |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $22.75 | 15.19% | |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 49,453,211,572 | 3.48% | |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.12 | 2.54% | |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 4,693,038,082 | 23.19% | |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 3,205,992,123 | 14.62% | |
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 March) | YTD 2019 | YTD 2018 | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mining Revenue | |||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $3,775 | $10,542 | -64.19% |
| Average Price Volatility | 37.08% | 107.09% | -65.37% |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $8,942,794 | $243,696,217 | -96.33% |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $623,923,983 | $2,114,968,705 | -70.50% |
| Total Mining Revenue | $632,866,777 | $2,358,664,922 | -73.17% |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $588,720,787 | $604,728,999 | -2.65% |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 93.02% | 25.64% | 262.83% |
| Total KWh Consumed | 11,962,069,262 | 12,094,579,990 | -1.10% |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 27,860,915 | 20,059,379 | 38.89% |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 429 | 603 | -28.86% |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.32 | $12.15 | -97.37% |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $21.45 | $30.15 | -28.86% |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 47,783,529,720 | 23,776,052,810 | 100.97% |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.12 | 0.24 | -50.79% |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 12,657,335,544 | 47,173,298,439 | -73.17% |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 8,992,181,510 | 4,474,474,811 | 100.97% |
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% |