Electricity Usage in the Financial Industry: Comparing Crypto Mining to Banks, Data Centers, and ATMs

When discussing cryptocurrencies, their high electricity consumption is often a topic of criticism. Nevertheless, it’s important to conduct a fair comparison. Here’s a rough approximation to help put things in perspective. In this article, we will compare the electricity usage of crypto mining to that of traditional banking, ATMs, and data centers.

Firstly, let’s discuss what crypto mining is and how it works. Crypto mining is the process of verifying transactions on a blockchain network, such as Bitcoin. The process involves solving complex mathematical problems that require significant computing power. Crypto miners use specialized computer hardware, such as ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), to solve these problems and earn cryptocurrency as a rereward.

On the other hand, banks, ATMs, and data centers also require electricity to operate, but the amount of energy used varies significantly. For example, an average bank branch in the United States consumes approximately 100,000 kWh of electricity per year, and there are approximately 11,000 commercial banks operating in the world. However, estimating the total energy needs of all banks worldwide would require a significant amount of information that is not readily available. So, take…