Why bitcoin uses so much energy | CNBC Explains

In mid-May 2021, billionaire Elon Musk sent a tweet that crashed the cryptocurrency market. The Tesla CEO announced the electric vehicle company would no longer accept bitcoin for purchases due to its huge energy consumption. So why does crypto-mining use so much electricity, and is there a sustainable alternative? CNBC's Nessa Anwar is joined by Ryan Browne to explain.

Contents of this video:
0:00 - Intro
0:34 - What makes crypto different?
1:19 - Why was crypto-mining introduced?
1:49 - How does crypto-mining work?
2:19 - The big problem with crypto-mining
3:23 - How much energy does Bitcoin use?
4:17 - Is it just Bitcoin with these issues?
4:35 - Bitcoin's biggest mining countries
5:04 - Bitcoin blackouts
5:20 - Governments hit back at miners
5:46 - The benefits of crypto
6:00 - Crypto vs online banking
6:55 - Ethereum's plan to lower energy use
7:40 - Is crypto-mining worth it?

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[farooqshaik]

The joke at the end of this, made my day 🤪😂😂😂

[anilb]

I just care about GPU prices please bring them back to normal :(

[adiintel]

i thought bitcoin was the only decentralised asset arnt most alt coins been pre-mined like xrp only few owners own the majority of the market of that particular alt coin not just xrp.

[christianwayne]

Because of the economic crisis and the rate of unemployment now is the best time to invest and make money 💯

[Dexion]

the Bitcoin network uses 0.5% of global electricity consumption and we are crying about this why??

[nigelwaxley]

That actually cracked me up. CNBC never miss a beat.

[Stone]

Plz make videos with the aspect ratio 20:9

[amilton]

Thank you so much great ideal your subject. AUDIO PERFECT.

[coldflu]

The president of El Salvador and newly elect of Argentina are more like the US founding fathers then US president and its upcoming candidates. The US founding fathers fought a revolutionary war against the central bank cartel.

More important question is will the US continue to support the centrally controlled cartel (central bank)?

[UnpepperedAngus]

The economy isn't about dollars, bitcoin, etherium, or anything else. It's about resources and services, bitcoin provides neither. For everyone saying its going to 'democratize' finance, doesn't seem to realize how wealth inequality, or stake holders work. Crypto's will be like any other financial resource, controlled by those who own the most actual resources, that are willing to be stake holders. Also crypto has been around for a decade now, and there really isn't anything I can do now, that I couldn't do before crypto (besides a fake ID I bought in college). That does not justify the financial, and now energy investment. Listen to Buffet, Gates, and Munger.

[ahmedlag]

Comment flooded with angry bots
Crypto sunk😆

[AmericanAntiCorruptionAct]

Why are corrupt banks suddenly concerned about the environment 🤔

[flechaevan]

Bitcoin is the future, investing in it now will be the wisest thing to do especially with the current rise in bitcoin

[JanPBtest]

Elon Musk's tweets on Bitcoin are the classic illustration of the old saying that little knowledge is a dangerous thing. He knows a lot about electricity, cars, engineering, and the like, but his knowledge of Bitcoin energy use and how power grids work in general is squat. Just ignore him, it's a waste of time in general to listen to expert in X pontificating on Y.

[lphaetaamma]

3:28 You should not say 1Terrawatthour =1.000.000.000.000 Watt. I know, you only reffer to the "terrawatt" instead of "TWh", but what you said is at least missleading. instead you shoukd have said 1TWh =1.000.000.000 kWh, as Kilowatthours are mainly used to quantify your electicity consumption in your electricity bill (I dont know, if the US have another dumb unit for this too, but in most countrys with usefull units kWh are used)

[theultimatereductionist]

What would happen if all those computers and servers doing all that mining got wiped out by an asteroid or volcano or nuclear bomb or tsunami?
Anything important or practical or relevant to the real physical world? (FYI: I am a mathematician and math is the real abstract world. But, math is proving theorems. Not pointless repetitive calculations.) What would Bitcoin be worth then?

[judebarry]

I hope everyone who sees this comment succeed in the stock market:)

[cwaddle]

Why so they reward ppl for mining? Couldnt they just give out money for free or via other mechanisms? The money supply is still the same?

[redbutterfly]

This video is just a repeat of other videos in the many past.. i want to know the truth about u.s pipeline hacker, how the u.s manage to hack the hackers account and get back the money they pay in bitcoin. I thought u cant hack bitcoin so how come?

[tananga]

Some day bitcoin is gonna be like tulipans in netherlands