Critic Claims Bitcoin Shifts from 'Boiling to Draining' Oceans

• Bitcoin's Water Consumption under Scrutiny by Alex De Vries
• Previous Criticisms and Current Findings
• Questioning the Methodology
• Responses to De Vries' Latest Assertions
• Batten's Critique of De Vries
• Future Debates on Bitcoin's Environmental Impact

Bitcoin's Water Consumption under Scrutiny by Alex De Vries

Alex De Vries, a known critic of Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% (BTC), recently claimed that each transaction on the Bitcoin network utilizes more than 16,000 liters of water - an amount sufficient to fill a small swimming pool. His research paper, published recently, proposes that miner cooling systems and water consumption for energy sources are contributing to this enormous usage.

Previous Criticisms and Current Findings

De Vries has a history of critiquing Bitcoin, particularly focusing on its electricity consumption. His technology research platform, Digiconomist, maintains a record of the environmental footprint of each bitcoin transaction. It compares it to 808,554 Visa transactions or 60,802 hours of watching Youtube. However, the method of calculating the energy cost per bitcoin transaction has been challenged as being ineffective without additional context.

Questioning the Methodology

For instance, the Center for Alternative Finance at Cambridge University pointed out that transaction throughput is independent of the network's electricity consumption. Adding more mining equipment and thus increasing electricity consumption will have no impact on the number of processed transactions. Digiconomist was also linked to a 2017 prediction that Bitcoin would match the world's entire power consumption by 2020, a forecast that fell into a similar category of early predictions from the 1990s about internet traffic and electricity usage.

Responses to De Vries' Latest Assertions

Daniel Batten, founder of CH4-Capital, a startup dedicated to removing methane from the atmosphere, offered a counter-argument. Batten believes Bitcoin mining could play a role in achieving his company's goal and criticized De Vries' recent assertions.

Batten's Critique of De Vries

De Vries has a history of making predictions which have proven wildly inaccurate, Batten stated on X (former Twitter). He added, Instead of accepting his mistakes and moving forward, De Vries has merely shifted his critical perspective into different areas. Following the realization that Bitcoin's primary energy source is not coal (as De Vries had incorrectly claimed) but hydro, Bitcoin is now being criticized for consuming too much water.

Future Debates on Bitcoin's Environmental Impact

Debates surrounding the environmental impact of Bitcoin continue, with new concerns such as water consumption now being raised. Whether these concerns will bring about any significant changes in the cryptocurrency's operations or perceptions remains to be seen.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker