Waste from 1 Bitcoin transaction equal to waste of 2 smart phones

A Study highlights vast churn in computer hardware that the cryptocurrency incentivises.

A single bitcoin transaction generates the same amount of electronic waste as throwing two iPhones in the bin, according to a new analysis by economists from the Dutch central bank and MIT.

“The lifespan of bitcoin mining devices remains limited to just 1.29 years,” write the researchers Alex de Vries and Christian Stoll in the paper, Bitcoin’s growing e-waste problem, published in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling. “As a result, we estimate that the whole bitcoin network currently cycles through 30.7 metric kilotons of equipment per year. This number is comparable to the amount of small IT and telecommunication equipment waste produced by a country like the Netherlands.”