Just one Bitcoin transaction requires a whole pool of water: why so much
On average, each bitcoin transaction consumes as much water as a small swimming pool. This is stated in a study by the Free University of Amsterdam, BBC reports.
According to scientist Alex de Vries, this is about 6 million times more than when using a regular credit card. According to the study, bitcoin consumed almost 1600 gigaliters of water (1600 billion liters) in 2021. In 2023, this figure may exceed 2,200 gigaliters.
This figure is related to the water used to power and cool the millions of computers around the world that bitcoin relies on.
Why bitcoin uses a lot of water
The reason for the high water consumption is bitcoin’s dependence on computing power, which requires a significant amount of electricity. According to the University of Cambridge, this cryptocurrency consumes almost as much energy as the whole of Poland.
The water is used to cool the power plants that supply the grid. It is also needed to cool the millions of computers that carry out bitcoin transactions.
A significant part of the costs is the process of confirming transactions, known as mining. At the same time, millions of devices around the world compete with each other in guessing numbers, which requires enormous computing power.
