> (including things like burning gasoline and jet fuel to move paper and metal for shredding/melting.)
In 2021, most transactions aren't made with paper cash and metal coins. It doesn't matter, though, because Bitcoin certainly isn't replacing traditional systems. The waste of Bitcoin is additive on top of any existing energy usage.
In 2021, most transactions aren't made with paper cash and metal coins. It doesn't matter, though, because Bitcoin certainly isn't replacing traditional systems. The waste of Bitcoin is additive on top of any existing energy usage.
Recent estimates compare the energy cost of a single Bitcoin transaction to around 700,000 credit card transactions, all things considered. ( https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption/ )
Notably, traditional transactions only get more efficient as our datacenters become faster and more energy efficient.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to consume ever-increasing amounts of energy while the number of supported transactions stays the same.