Unravelling Bitcoin and the Crypto Puzzle

Article by Ethan Gray
Accompanying the headlines of Bitcoin's surging price are stories highlighting the network's substantial energy use. The network was consuming 137 TWh of electricity at the end of March 2021. That is up 3,526% since early 2017. For perspective, that amount of electricity can power the country of Ukraine. Bitcoin's algorithm prevents it from scaling efficiently, a rather important factor for a global system. Bitcoin catalyzed a revolution in decentralized networks, but should it be adopted in the coming decades?