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 September 2020 | ||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $10,652 | -8.54% |  |
| Average Price Volatility | 34.45% | -7.32% | |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $32 | -11.49% | |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $293,068,351 | -9.69% | |
| Total Mining Revenue | $293,068,383 | -9.69% | |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $283,763,570 | 2.05% |  |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 96.83% | 13.00% | |
| Total KWh Consumed | 5,675,271,408 | 2.05% | |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 9,471,584 | -3.11% |  |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 599 | 5.27% | |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.00 | #DIV/0! | #DIV/0! |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $29.95 | 5.27% | |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 132,983,098,636 | 5.78% | |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.06 | -0.34% | |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 5,861,367,651 | -9.69% | |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 4,486,144,136 | 2.39% | |
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 September |
| Average Bitcoin Price | $9,168 | $7,153 | 28.17% |
| Average Price Volatility | 48.33% | 55.44% | -12.82% |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $253 | $135,446,458 | -100.00% |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $3,263,863,545 | $3,759,754,768 | -13.19% |
| Total Mining Revenue | $3,263,863,798 | $3,895,201,227 | -16.21% |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $2,582,515,501 | $2,266,907,325 | 13.92% |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 79.12% | 58.20% | 35.96% |
| Total KWh Consumed | 51,650,310,027 | 45,525,800,014 | 13.45% |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 84,854,176 | 91,189,921 | -6.95% |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 609 | 499 | 22.04% |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $0.00 | $1.49 | -100.00% |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $30.45 | $24.95 | 22.04% |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 228,402,769,264 | 113,607,327,597 | 101.05% |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.03 | 0.06 | -43.51% |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 65,277,275,956 | 77,904,024,538 | -16.21% |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 70,381,054,725 | 35,041,410,109 | 100.85% |
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% |