The Inconvenient Truth for BTC Haters – Bitcoin Uses 56x Less Energy Than the Legacy System.

With Lightning Network, a Bitcoin payment becomes 194 Million X more energy efficient than a classical payment.

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Bitcoin is an ecological disaster. Bitcoin consumes far too much energy. Bitcoin contributes nothing and exacerbates the effects of climate change …

I'll stop here, but you've probably already heard Bitcoin haters telling these kinds of lies. It's mandatory because they keep repeating the same lies over and over again to make people believe that Bitcoin is a danger to the world.

For those who fall into these traps, you should ask yourself why these powerful people in the current system spend so much time criticizing Bitcoin. Their purpose is clear: to protect the current system at all costs. They have already shown this since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything must be done to save the current monetary and financial system.

The fact that this system is unfair and disadvantageous to hundreds of millions of people does not matter to them. What matters instead is to attack Bitcoin, without even trying to understand how Bitcoin is a unique opportunity for the greatest number of people in the future.

An interesting study has just been published, which the Bitcoin haters will avoid mentioning since it does not support their lies. To follow the Bitcoin motto “Don't Trust, Verify” to the letter I invite you to go and study this study for yourself.

Until I get your feedback, here is what I got out of it.

The Bitcoin system uses 56x less energy than the fiat system

First, the authors of the study calculate the energy consumption of the fiat system and the Bitcoin system.

For the fiat system, the authors of the study take into account the energy consumption needed to print paper money, renew coins, run ATM systems, transmit cash, use electronic payments systems (EPOS), issue card payments, and run banking offices, employ banking staff and managing inter-banking.

This comprehensive calculation taking into account all parameters allows estimating that the traditional monetary system consumes 4,981 Terawatt-hours per year.

For Bitcoin, the authors first study Bitcoin without a layer-2 solution such as the Lightning Network, which is of course the future of Bitcoin as a means of payment for everyday life on a large scale. Only the current PoW system is considered. After taking into account the energy consumption of the different mining equipment, the authors conclude that the upper bound energy Bitcoin uses is 88.95 Terrawatt-hours per year.

I'll let you do the math for yourself, but what this means is that the Bitcoin system consumes 56 times less energy than the fiat system:

“We can conclude that the crypto payment system of Bitcoin PoW consumes at least ~56 times less energy than the classical electronic monetary and payment system.”

Energy efficiency: Bitcoin far ahead

Once the energy consumption is calculated, the study authors use this data to calculate the energy efficiency of each system by evaluating the amount of work and power involved. When deciding on the energy efficiency levels of each system, the authors take into account the amount of time each system takes to complete a transaction.

A transaction on the Bitcoin network takes an average of 10 minutes to confirm and complete. In contrast, a transaction on the traditional system occurs within one to five business days. A classic payment transaction is therefore 288 times slower than a Bitcoin transaction.

For cross-border payments, it can take up to seven business days. In these cases, Bitcoin transactions are 1,008 times faster than classic transactions. Bitcoin has no concept of business days … Furthermore, transactions on the Bitcoin network do not depend on whether they are national or international.

A transaction takes an average of 10 minutes to be validated. Period.

With the Lightning Network, Bitcoin reaches the level where it can be used as an everyday payment solution

In the end, the authors compare the best-case scenarios for both systems: instant payment of the traditional finance with the Bitcoin Lightning Network.

The instant payment of the traditional finance network uses the same hardware. It will just speed up the payment process by prioritizing certain tasks. As a result, the energy consumption of instant payment networks remains more or less the same as that of traditional finance, while the duration decreases. The efficiency therefore logically increases.

The Bitcoin Lightning system is far more efficient than instant payments, with a total capacity of 31 trillion transactions per year. This is also reflected in the comparison results:

The study states:

“Lightning at a single transaction level allows Bitcoin to become 194 Million X more energy efficient than a classical payment and up to 1 million X more energy efficient than an instant payment Tx.”

This is clearly what is called a knockout victory in the boxing world. Of course, don't expect the Bitcoin haters, the powerful people at the head of the current monetary and financial system, to tell you about these figures. Since they don't fit into their narrative, they will be ignored.

It is up to you to do your research to understand that far from being a danger, Bitcoin is first and foremost a solution to many of the challenges humanity faces in the years to come. By relying on Bitcoin, many problems will be addressed to create a better world for the many.

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Some reading

• 5 Reasons Why the Lightning Network Is Essential for Bitcoin’s Future. LN will make Bitcoin a large-scale means of payment for everyday life.

• The Bitcoin Energy Consumption Debate Becomes Obsolete When You Look at the Wealth It Secures. Don't Trust, Verify.

• The 5 Big Reasons Why Bitcoin Will Be a Major Force for Good in the Fight Against Climate Change. You must learn to go beyond the clichés and lies propagated by the powerful at the head of the current system.

• The 7 Stages of a Bear Market – Where Are We With Bitcoin? Probably between panic and accumulation/stabilization.

• Banks Have Received Over $332B in Penalties Since 2000 – Bitcoin Is a Necessity for the People. The opacity of the banking system is dramatic for the people.