Despite the fact that the Bitcoin mining industry is still profitable, its environmental impact cannot be underestimated. So, according to a study by PWC blockchain expert and Digiconomist blog author Alex de Vries, 98% of existing equipment will become useless over time and become huge heaps of electronic waste, writes The Sunday Telegraph.
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De Vries said that it is shocking that due to the emergence of a new generation of devices that better cope with the solution of calculations, the average life of the equipment for mining the first crypto is 1.5 years.
TradeBlock analysts say that after the upcoming halving in May, the price of the first crypto should rise to $15,062 in order to provide miners with at least break-even work. And this is subject to an upgrade of at least 30% of the current Antminer S17 models from Bitmain.
Alex de Vries, however, believes that amid a growing hash rate, 98% of ASIC devices that have only one use case will simply become unnecessary.
According to him, the bitcoin industry already produces more than 10 kilotons of electronic waste per year, which is more than the whole of Luxembourg, and it is expected that after halving this number will only increase.
Another problem that the researcher draws attention to is the huge amount of electricity consumed by bitcoin. Today, this indicator exceeds the amount of electricity consumed by a country such as Chile (77.78 terawatt-hours), and only one BTC transaction emits more carbon dioxide than 780,650 transactions in the Visa payment network.
De Vries quoted the publication saying, that people react with disbelief, but these figures are true.
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Recall, that Bitmain has presented specifications for the modern Antminer S19 and S19 Pro. According to the company, the new devices will provide miners with a steady income even after the upcoming halving in May.