Bill Gates: Bitcoin mining consumes more power than all human activities, exacerbating chip shortages

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said in an interview with the media that Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity per transaction than any other activity known to mankind. Because a series of chain reactions brought about by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency mining craze are continuing to spread, Bitcoin mining has even exacerbated the crisis of chip supply shortage.

Bitcoin mining consumes more electricity than all human activities

Bitcoin mining obtains cryptocurrency by completing a large number of calculations to verify transactions. The mining process not only consumes a lot of energy, but miners also need more and more powerful computer equipment or Bitcoin mining machines to complete this process. This is a particularly serious problem in the context of the “lack of cores” faced by industries ranging from smart phones, TVs to automobiles.

But from another point of view, some people have estimated that the average mining cost of Bitcoin is only 5,000 US dollars , and the transaction price of Bitcoin has exceeded 61,000 US dollars before. The generous return pushed the income of miners to a record high last month. A record 1.4 billion US dollars. This has also prompted miners to spend more money on high-end computers and chips.

Of course, these are obvious questions. The only way I think now is to wait for the mining craze to fade away. However, it has also been estimated that when the price of Bitcoin drops below $3,800, Bitcoin mining is no longer profitable for most miners. At least for the time being, the distance is a bit far away, but it may not be too far away for the skyrocketing Bitcoin.