Bitcoin Mining and its Energy Footprint
http://karlodwyer.github.io/publications/pdf/bitcoin_KJOD_2014.pdfAbstract —
Bitcoin is a digital cryptocurrency that has generated considerable public
interest, including both booms in value and busts of exchanges dealing in Bitcoins.
One of the fundamental concepts of Bitcoin is that work, called mining, must be done
in checking all monetary transactions, which in turn creates Bitcoins as a reward. In
this paper we look at the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining. We consider if and
when Bitcoin mining has been profitable compared to the energy cost of performing
the mining, and conclude that specialist hardware is usually required to make Bitcoin
mining profitable. We also show that the power currently used for Bitcoin mining is
comparable to Ireland’s electricity consumption.
Keywords — Bitcoin
