Bitcoin mining refers to the process of bringing new bitcoins (BTC) into existence. Bitcoin uses a proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism where miners use algorithms to solve complex mathematical hashing puzzles to unlock new bitcoin blocks.
Besides generating new bitcoins, Bitcoin miners also help in verifying transactions whose data is contained in the newly generated blocks that are then added to the Bitcoin blockchain. In return for mining, Bitcoin miners are rewarded with a portion of the newly generated bitcoins.
Previously, Bitcoin mining was considered more profitable than trading although lately there has been a lot of environmental, sustainability, profitability, and cost-linked concerns that have greatly impacted the Bitcoin mining industry. Some countries like China have even resulted to completely banned cryptocurrency mining.
In this post, we are going to provide you with some Bitcoin mining statistics that might blow your mind. To begin with, here are some of the key statistics:
- Only 21 million bitcoins can exist, and less than 2 million are left to mine.
- Before the crypto mining ban In China, China accounted for 75% of the global hash rate.
- Bitcoin mining takes up nearly three times the energy that gold mining consumes.
- In 2021, Bitcoin miners earned a total of $15.3 billion while Ethereum miners earned $16.5 billion.
- The majority of bitcoin miners in the US are located in New York.
Bitcoin Mining statistics
1. Less than 2 million bitcoin are unmined so far
According to Blockchain.com, less than 2 million of the maximum 21 million bitcoins that can exist remain to be mined.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, so far there are 19,201,737 bitcoins in circulation supply meaning only 1,798,263 bitcoins are left to mine.
2. 900 bitcoins are mined per day
On average about 144 Bitcoin blocks are added to the Bitcoin Blockchain daily and each block adds about 6.25 BTC meaning the total number of BTC added to the circulation supply daily is about 900 BTC.
3. The last bitcoin will be mined in the year 2140
Going by the calculations of the bitcoins that are mined daily, the last bitcoin to be mined shall be mined in the year 2140.
4. Bitcoin miners raised 3.9 billion in equity and $2.3 billion in debt in 2021
According to Galaxy Digital Research, Bitcoin miners raised a total of $3.9 billion in equity of which publicly traded miners raised $2.1 billion while private miners raised $1.5 billion.
On the other hand, Bitcoin miners raised $2.3 billion in publicly traded debt with private miners raising 914 million and publicly traded miners raising about $1.4 billion.
5. China once accounted for 75% of the global hash rate
Before China imposed a blanket ban on crypto mining in June 2021, the country accounted for more than 75% of the global hash rate according to CBECI.
After the ban, many of the miners that operated in China moved to Kazakhstan and the US. Kazakhstan offers cheap housing and electricity which is ideal for miners.
6. By 2018 Bitman, a Chinese company was the leading manufacturer of crypto mining equipment before the China ban
Before the crypto mining ban in China, Bitman had become the largest manufacturer of crypto mining equipment. But after the ban, the company took a hit after the price of its top mining rigs plunged by more than 75%.
7. Bitcoin mining accounts for the largest share of cryptocurrency mining activities
Since it was launched Bitcoin has been a frontrunner in almost everything within the crypto space including mining activities. And now that its closest rival, Ethereum, has migrated to using Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, Bitcoin has been left as the largest shareholder in the crypto-mining industry.
8. USA, Kazakhstan, and Russia account for 65% of the world’s hash rate
Hash rate is the measure of the computational power used in the crypto mining process of PoW blockchains like Bitcoin. It is measured in hash/second.
According to CBECI, as of August 2021, the USA accounted for 35.5% of the global hash rate while Kazakhstan accounted for 18.1%, and Russian for 11.2%. The total hash rate of these three countries totalled about 65% of the global hash rate.
9. US miners account for 17% of the total bitcoins mined every day
Going by the enormous Bitcoin hash rate that the US accounts for, miners in the country contribute to about 17% of the bitcoins mined every day. That represents about 153 bitcoins out of the 900 BTC mined per day on average.
This further means that about 25 new blocks of Bitcoin are mined in the US every day.
10. Core Scientific operates the largest Bitcoin Mining operation in the US
Core Scientific is the largest Bitcoin mining operation in the United States. They have announced plans of going public and have been rapidly expanding their business in the US after China effected the crypto mining ban.
11. The time taken to mine a single Bitcoin block varies between 10 minutes to 30 days.
The algorithm of the Bitcoin Network is made in such a way that mining a new block takes a minimum of 10 minutes. However, the Block Time can vary between 10 minutes to 30 days depending on the power of the mining equipment or mining pool.
For Dogecoin, which is one of the few remaining blockchains that still use PoW, it takes about 1 minute to mine a new block.
12. Bitcoin miners earned $15.3 billion in 2021
According to research done by The Block and GSR, the total revenue made by Bitcoin miners in 2021 was $15.3 billion while the revenue made by Ethereum miners stood at $16.5 billion.
Compared to the previous year, Bitcoin mining revenue had grown by about 206% while that of Ethereum had grown by 678%.
13. $2.2 billion worth of revenue is generated by Bitcoin mining in the US every year
According to statistics, approximately $2.2 billion worth of revenue is generated from Bitcoin mining in the US every year.
14. 50% of all Bitcoin mining capacity is controlled by about 0.1% of all miners
According to a study conducted by NBER, 50 miners (which account for about 0.1% of all miners) control close to 50% of the entire Bitcoin mining capacity.
According to the study, 10% of miners control 90% of crypto mining.
15. The reward for mining a Bitcoin block has reduced from 50 BTC to 6.25 BTC in 10 years
According to CoinMama, Bitcoin Halving which is a prescheduled event that occurs after every 4 years and results in the halving of Bitcoin mining rewards has reduced Bitcoin mining rewards from 50 BTC to 6.25 BTC in 10 years.
Before 2013, the reward for mining a Bitcoin block was 50 BTC. It was then Halved to 25 BTC, then to 12.5 BTC, and then to the current reward of 6.25 BTC.
16. New York is home to most of the Bitcoin miners in the US
According to Foundry USA and CNBC, the state of New York houses the majority of Bitcoin miners in the US followed by Kentucky, Georgia, and Texas.
New York is home to 19.90% of all the Bitcoin miners in the US, Kentucky is home to 18.70% of Bitcoin miners, Georgia 17.30%, and Texas 14%.
17. The daily Bitcoin miners’ revenue stood at $19.05 million as of November 7, 2022
According to YCharts, the Bitcoin Miners’ Revenue per Day was $19.05M as of November 7, 2022.
18. A single Bitcoin miner makes about 186 a day after paying all the fees
According to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, an average Bitcoin miner makes about $216 9approximately 0.0055 BTC) a day after paying the mining pool fee.
The miner then pays an average electricity fee of $30 a day leaving him/her with a modest $186 per day.
Bitcoin mining energy consumption statistics
19. Bitcoin mining consumes 0.6% of the world’s electricity supply
According to Digiconomist Bitcoin mining consumed about 150 terawatt-hours of electricity per year which accounts for about 0.6% of the total electricity produced around the world.
The total amount of electricity consumed by Bitcoin mining is more than the electricity consumed by about 159 countries combined.
And as fewer and fewer bitcoins remain to be mined the computational power required to mine continues to increase meaning more and more electricity is required.
20. The amount of energy consumed by Bitcoin Mining is three times that consumed in gold mining
According to a research paper by Max J. Krause & Thabet Tolaymat in 2018, Bitcoin mining $1 worth of Bitcoin consumed about 17 megajoules while it took about 5 megajoules to mine gold worth $1.
21. Renewable energy sources provide about 58% of the energy used in Bitcoin mining
According to a report issued by the Bitcoin Mining Council in the last quarter of 2021, the global mining industry’s sustainable energy mix was 58.5%, which represented a 1% rise from the Q3 report.
The report also pointed out that the global technological efficiency of the Bitcoin Network grew by 9% to 19.3 petash per MW.
22. Bitcoin uses more renewable energy than most countries
According to the Bitcoin Mining Council’s Q3 Mining Data Report, Bitcoin uses more renewable energy than a majority of countries around the world.
23. Bitcoin mining generates about 32.80 kilotonnes of electronic waste every year
According to Digiconomicts, about 32.80 kilotonnes of electronic waste is generated every year by Bitcoin Mining.
24. As of February 2022, Bitcoin mining contributed to 97.14 metric tons of carbon emissions
According to Digiconomist, as of February 14 2022, Bitcoin mining contributed to about 97.14 metric tonnes of carbon emissions, which is relatively equivalent to the carbon footprint of Kuwait.
Considering that the global CO2 emissions stood at 36 billion metric tonnes, Bitcoin’s carbon footprint is insignificant.
25. Mining a single bitcoin emits 223 tonnes of CO2
The carbon footprint of a single mined Bitcoin is 223 tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is 24 times higher than that of mining gold worth 1BTC. Mining gold worth one bitcoin would emit 9 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
26. Bitcoin mining consumes more than seven times the energy consumed by Google’s operations
According to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, Bitcoin mining uses about 7 times the energy used to run Google’s global operations.
27. Bitcoin network uses an average of 2% of the amount of the total electricity used by the USA every year
According to statistics, the amount of energy consumed by Bitcoin is about 2% of the amount of electricity used by the United States of America for a year.
28. Every year, Bitcoin mining uses almost the same amount of electricity as the state of Washington
According to Buy Bitcoin Worldwide, The amount of electricity used for Bitcoin mining every year is almost the same as the amount of electricity used by the state of Washington every year
29. It required $12,500 worth of household electricity to mine one bitcoin in 2021
According to NYTimes, it required about $12,500 worth of household electricity to mine one bitcoin. The amount of electricity bill is equivalent to 9 years’ worth of household electricity.
30. Total annual electricity costs for mining Bitcoin amount to about $6,722,288,442
Annually, the total electricity costs for Bitcoin mining amount to $6,722,288,442 against an annual reward of $7,721,850,090.
Conclusion
We hope the above Bitcoin mining statistics give you a better understanding of the multi-billion dollar Bitcoin mining industry.
Going by the statistics, the Bitcoin mining industry provides very many people with a decent income. However, it is important to note that the industry has a shelf-life which is determined by the number of bitcoins that remains unmined so far out of the total 21 million bitcoins that will be in circulation supply once all bitcoins are mined.