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 July 2019 | ||
| Average Bitcoin Price | $10,663 | 13.73% |  |
| Average Price Volatility | 89.44% | 35.66% | |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $21,550,738 | -39.95% |  |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $640,682,449 | 17.75% | |
| Total Mining Revenue | $662,233,188 | 14.18% | |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $306,713,186 | 11.98% | |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 46.31% | -1.93% | |
| Total KWh Consumed | 6,134,263,727 | 11.98% | |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 10,296,843 | -1.45% |  |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 596 | 13.74% | |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $2.09 | -39.07% | |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $29.80 | 13.74% | |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 72,125,900,615 | 18.09% | |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.11 | -8.27% | |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 13,244,663,752 | 14.18% | |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 3,285,801,986 | 22.07% | |
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 2019 | For 2018 | numbers up to July |
| Average Bitcoin Price | $6,275 | $8,848 | -29.08% |
| Average Price Volatility | 56.21% | 76.41% | -26.44% |
| Mining Revenue from Fees | $111,997,027 | $271,924,684 | -58.81% |
| Mining Revenue from Blocks Mined | $2,538,493,417 | $4,091,350,701 | -37.95% |
| Total Mining Revenue | $2,650,490,444 | $4,363,275,385 | -39.25% |
| Mining Costs | |||
| Total Costs of Mining | $1,655,892,373 | $1,726,468,811 | -4.09% |
| Percentage of Total Revenue | 62.47% | 39.57% | 57.89% |
| Total KWh Consumed | 33,305,500,989 | 34,529,376,218 | -3.54% |
| Network Statistics | |||
| Total Transactions Processed | 71,177,814 | 43,736,116 | 62.74% |
| Average KWh Consumed per TX | 468 | 789 | -40.68% |
| Average Fee per Transaction | $1.57 | $6.22 | -74.76% |
| Energy cost per TX (at 5 cents per KWh) | $23.40 | $39.45 | -40.68% |
| Average Network Hashrate (GH/s) | 54,681,264,933 | 31,619,174,959 | 72.94% |
| Average Network Effciency (J/GH) | 0.12 | 0.21 | -44.22% |
| Bounds | |||
| Economic Maximum KWh Consumed | 53,009,808,875 | 87,265,507,697 | -39.25% |
| Technical Minimum KWh Consumed | 17,035,190,522 | 9,851,087,800 | 72.93% |
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% |