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The Environmental Costs of Mining Bitcoin
  • Sanaz Chamanara,
  • S. Arman Ghaffarizadeh,
  • Kaveh Madani
Sanaz Chamanara
School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
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S. Arman Ghaffarizadeh
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University
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Kaveh Madani
The MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University, The MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University, The MacMillan Center for International and Area Studies, Yale University

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The cryptocurrency sector is increasingly integrated into the global financial system. The world’s transition to a digital economy, facilitated by major technological breakthroughs, has several benefits. But as the demand for exchanging and investing in digital currencies is growing , the world must pay careful attention to the hidden and overlooked environmental impacts of this growth. The dramatic increase in the price of Bitcoin (BTC) over the last year and the resulting global race for BTC mining is turning the cryptocurrency market turning into one of the world’s leading polluting sectors. Yet, our knowledge about the environmental footprints of mining BTC is very limited. To address this hap, this study provides the first estimates of the carbon, water and land footprints of BTC mining around the world.