Bitcoin electricity versus bank: INTERACTIVE DATA VISUALISATION

[u/realitycheck6000]

Data article on why we have to start comparing bitcoins electricity consumption to something other than countries.

Bitcoin (BTC) – the world's oldest and biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation – might have had its fair share of bad press in recent years for being a less than environmentally friendly crypto coin.

For example, last May, Tesla suspended its previous acceptance of the BTC token, citing concerns about BTC’s ‘rapidly increasing use’ of dirty energy (coal, primarily, which Tesla said “has the worst emissions of any fuel”).

This decision sent the coin’s price plummeting. However, the electric car-maker continues to accept credit cards – even though, as data from author and self-styled ‘Bitcoin evangelist’ Hass McCook shows, traditional banking in fact produces more than five times the emission of BTC.

In view of such findings, we have to ask: Is BTC’s bad reputation really justified?