Bitcoin [BTC] emission intensity hits new all-time low- Here’s why

• Bitcoin mining sustainability reached a new ATH, thereby reducing gas emissions.
• Miners’ revenue remains at extremely low levels.

One problem Bitcoin [BTC] miners have faced is the complaints about energy draining and untenable greenhouse gas emissions on the environment. But as of press time, the emission intensity reached a new All-Time Low (ATL), according to a Woobull chart shared by Daniel Batten (a climate activist).

How much are 1,10,100 BTCs worth today?

Thanks to the rigs and energy

In his tweet, the climate tech activist and investor pointed out the reasons why the situation has changed. First, he mentioned that most miners had improved in using sustainable energy resources. And secondly, there were more structured and efficient mining rigs.

Due to these factors, mining sustainability reached an All-Time High (ATH) of 54%. Mining in crypto considers emissions and precise energy used in creating power for the activity. This, sometimes, leads to carbon emissions which only have a lesser impact than coal-powered energy.

Source: Woobull

But now that the emission intensity has reduced, it implies that Bitcoin is effectively heading toward carbon neutrality. And, according to Batten, it could reduce its impact on the environment by half in three years.

Additionally, the Bitcoin investor also noted that the sustainability ATH had slightly decreased. And this has been an aftereffect of a rising hashrate without significant mining activity. Datten noted,

“Total emissions are up from a fortnight ago. These are indirect emissions caused by electricity use (like the indirect emissions of EVs). Bitcoin like EVs has no direct emissions.”

Notably, the Bitcoin hashrate refers to the total computational power used to mine and process transactions on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus network. It also describes the estimated number of hashes per second by miners on the Bitcoin network.

Source: Glassnode

Of late, the hashrate has been rising to new ATHs week-in, and week-out as the BTC price continues an overall green performance. At the time of writing, the situation was not changed based on Glassnode data.

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No savior yet for the turnover

But has the drop in mining activity affected miners’ revenue or fees? At press time, total fees which do not include newly issued coins generated remained at a low point similar to the 2022 trend.

When it comes to miners’ revenue, the decline was evident. The metric measures income generated plus newly minted coins. According to Glassnode, the revenue was down 870.90 BTC. 

Source: Glassnode

For the time being, miners continue to wrestle with ups and down in the industry. The BTC price swings in recent times have also played a part in this adjustment.

However, the widespread sentiment for significant recovery is the 2024 Bitcoin halving when miners would get 3.125 BTC in rewards.