How to fix Bitcoin's energy-consumption problem

Bitcoin mining consumes a lot of energy. Every once in a while, someone compares this to another random metric — say, the energy consumption of Ireland — and it induces a collective gasp. How can this thing be sustainable?

Well, it probably isn’t. But, long-term, it might not be that big of a deal.

It’s true that Bitcoin mining is an awful energy drain. Hundreds of thousands of application-specific integrated circuits or ASICs — specific hardware aimed exclusively for mining cryptocurrencies — hum in huge halls, mainly located in China, and use enormous amounts of electricity to create new bitcoins. They also power the Bitcoin transaction network, but they do it in a horribly inefficient way. The fact that a huge chunk of China’s electricity comes from fossil fuels makes the situation even worse.  Read more…

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Source: Mashable | How to fix Bitcoin's energy-consumption problem