The risks of a negative impact on the environment due to Bitcoin Mining have been discussed many times, but a recent report suggests that the actual damage caused by Bitcoin Mining seems to be much lower than the environmental damage caused by Fiat currencies and other industries.
Data centers, gold mining and and cash production consume much more electricity than bitcoin mining.
The report suggests that Bitcoin Mining's annual energy consumption is 8.27 terawatt hours per year, more than Ireland and other small nations. Nevertheless, this is only one eighth (1/8) of what data centers in the U. S. consume annually and global Fiat currency production consumes 11 terawatt hours per year.
Gold production consumes 132 terawatt hours per year. This does not even include the huge amounts of energy used to secure physical money and precious metals through safes, banks, security systems and more.
Bitcoin's impact on the environment has been much discussed, especially by those who do not yet accept Bitcoin as a legitimate payment system, as these allegations are more accusations than true facts.
These reports also do not include the costs of other assets that are also consuming resources. In short, Bitcoin consumes less energy than its non-digital counterparts.
This of course is the same for other cryptos.