The electricity used to keep Bitcoin running every year could charge around nine billion iPhones — a comparison that puts into perspective just how energy-hungry the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has become.
According to a recent study by BestBrokers, the Bitcoin network now consumes close to 128 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, an amount of power that rivals — and in some cases exceeds — the annual electricity use of entire countries such as Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. On a daily basis, miners collectively burn through more than 350 gigawatt-hours of electricity just to keep the system ticking over.
That power is used to produce just 450 new bitcoins a day, highlighting the sheer scale of energy required to secure the network. For consumers, it’s a striking statistic: every time someone tops up their phone, streams a movie or switches on their air conditioning, they’re drawing from the same global energy pool that helps fuel Bitcoin’s digital economy.
“What makes this moment particularly interesting is the tension between economics and sustainability. When Bitcoin prices were surging, the environmental cost was often overshadowed by profitability. In 2026, that equation is shifting. Lower margins mean less efficient miners are being squeezed out, but it also raises a broader question: if the financial incentives weaken, does the environmental cost become harder to justify?,” said Alan Goldberg from BestBrokers.
The study points out that electricity has now become the biggest cost for Bitcoin miners, especially after the 2024 “halving”, an event that cut miners’ block rewards in half. While Bitcoin prices surged after that halving, the long-term economics of mining have become far less forgiving — particularly during periods of price volatility.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the United States, which leads the world in Bitcoin mining activity. US-based miners consume about 132.6 GWh of electricity every day, producing roughly 170 bitcoins daily. But powering those operations does not come cheap. BestBrokers estimates that the electricity cost to mine a single bitcoin in the US has climbed above $106,000. In contrast, Bitcoin trading around $68,000 on Tuesday evening.
For consumers, that gap matters. When mining costs exceed market prices, less efficient operators are squeezed out, leading to consolidation in the industry and raising questions about how sustainable the system really is. It also fuels ongoing debate around who ultimately bears the environmental and infrastructure costs of maintaining the Bitcoin network.
Gracy Chen, CEO at Bitget, however, remained bullish about the environmental impact. “We believe Bitcoin’s production fundamentally relies on computational power and energy, making it resilient amid price volatility. Geopolitical conflicts, such as recent tensions driving oil prices higher, have introduced short-term market swings; however, with over 50% of global Bitcoin mining now powered by sustainable sources like renewables and nuclear, the network demonstrates strong environmental adaptability and efficiency gains. In today’s AI era, where compute demand is surging, Bitcoin mining’s energy infrastructure provides a robust fundamental backbone, often overlapping with high-performance computing needs and attracting innovative solutions like hybrid mining-AI operations to optimize consumption,” she said.
BestBrokers’ analysis underlines that Bitcoin mining has evolved into something closer to a heavy industrial activity than a purely digital one. Keeping the blockchain secure now requires energy on a national scale, drawing electricity away from households, businesses and public services.
As global power demand continues to rise, and energy prices remain unpredictable, the report suggests that access to cheap electricity — rather than technological innovation alone — will increasingly determine who can afford to keep mining Bitcoin. For everyday consumers, the billions of iPhone charges’ worth of electricity locked into the system offers a stark reminder that even virtual currencies have very real-world costs.
