The total electricity consumption of a Bitcoin mine is now almost equivalent to the Netherlands, which is 103.36 terawatt-hours per year.
This achievement is at the same time the latest record for the all-time high, surpassing July 9, 2019 (63.16 terawatt-hours per year).
The figure is based on the latest data from the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index yang published by Judge Business School, Universitas Cambridge.
The country's electricity consumption data was reported by Cambridge from the latest data in 2016 by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
According to Cambridge, the annual electricity consumption of the Netherlands is around 108.80 terawatt-hours. Meanwhile, Bitcoin has reached 103.36 terawatt-hours per year. That figure far exceeds Kazakhstan (94.23) and Pakistan (92.33).
The first time the electricity consumption of a Bitcoin mine hit an all-time high was on November 6, 2020. At that time the value exceeded July 9, 2019 (63.16 terawatt-hours per year).
The increase in consumption has seen a surge since 22 November 2020 (92.78 terawatt-hours per year).
With total global electricity consumption reaching 20,863 TWh, the current total electricity consumption for Bitcoin mining is equivalent to 0.47 percent.
On February 12, 2020, with a different data source, namely from BlockchainAnalytics, Bitcoin mines around the world consume higher electrical energy than Nigeria and New Zealand. And at that time it was equivalent to the consumption of electrical energy in the Czechoslovakia Republic.
BlockchainAnalytics mentions that the electrical energy in the Bitcoin mining process continues to increase. In 2017 it consumed more electricity than Jamaica. In 2018 more than Nigeria. Then, in 2019 more than New Zealand.
"Currently, the electricity used by Bitcoin mining globally is equivalent to electricity consumption in Czechoslovakia," said BlockchainAnalytics in a statement yesterday, Tuesday (February 11, 2020).
China Still Dominates
Still based on data from Cambridge, specifically the world's Bitcoin mining activity, currently still dominated by China, which reaches 65 percent.
Below that follow the United States (7.24 percent), Russia (6.90 percent), and Kazakhstan (6.17 percent). Malaysia itself is in 4th place (4.33 percent).
Especially for China, Xinjiang dominates more than 35 percent, followed by Sichuan (9.66 percent), then respectively Nei Mongol (8 percent) and Yunnan (1.73 percent).
The total electricity consumption of Bitcoin mines is expected to continue to increase, as demand for Bitcoin is increasingly considered a store-of-value equivalent to gold.
The increase in demand will boost the current Bitcoin mining hash rate which has also exceeded its record high of 161 Exahash per second per day (30 December 2020).