Cambridge Study: Ethereum Consumes 28x Less Energy Than American Express

Last updated: December 12, 2023 03:00 EST
. 2 min read

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The world’s second-largest crypto protocol Ethereum network, is reported to consume 28 times less energy than the American Express business, according to a recent report from the University of Cambridge.

The report compares the annual energy consumption of the smart contract-powered blockchain service to that of several legacy-based financial and corporate businesses.

According to the Cambridge Blockchain Network Sustainability Index report, Ethereum’s annual energy consumption of 7 Gigawatts per hour (GWh) is 28 times lower than American Express, which operates on 202.73 GWh.

It is also 50 times less than the energy consumed by the Deutsche Bank, which uses up 437 GWh.

NEWS:

American Express Uses 28x More Energy Than Ethereum Says Cambridge. pic.twitter.com/sFI3ElyluL

— BuzzBeatHQ 🚀 (@mely_buzz) December 12, 2023

When placed side-by-side in terms of assets under management (AUM), the Deutsche Bank controls more than $820 billion in assets, while Ethereum commands upwards of $350 million both on-chain and in the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem.

This shows that the Deutsche Bank uses 25 times more energy per dollar managed than the Ethereum blockchain network.

Additionally, the Ethereum network proves to be more energy-efficient than the Netflix streaming service, which consumes 123 GWh annually. It is also more than 30 times less energy intensive than the Burj Khalifa, which uses a mammoth 243.4GWh to power its skyscraper edifice.

Furthermore, the Cambridge report reveals that the 7 GWh energy needs of the smart contract network can only power its campus for 19 days. Other household appliances, such as air conditioners, are also considered in the context of energy consumption.

The report further outlines that the energy needs of the decentralized finance ecosystem are equivalent to the yearly consumption of 676 air conditioners and are capable of meeting the power needs of 1,969 average households.

Moreover, the 7 GWh output would only be exhausted by a Tesla Cybertruck covering a total distance of 17.1 million.
Ethereum’s high-efficiency metrics follow its breakaway from the secure yet slow and energy-cumbersome proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm.

Following its switch from a PoW to a proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism earlier in the year, the validation of transactions and creation of new Ether assets no longer relies on a distributed network of miners who have to compete to be first.

Instead, the Ethereum network requires validators to lock up a minimum of 32 Ether coins in order to verify transactions on the network.

Each validator is selected and only requires software on their computer to keep the network operating optimally.

Supra Makes the Ethereum Jump

Functioning as the central hub for all things DeFi, the Ethereum network is a huge attraction for the 2,000 plus decentralized applications (dApps) that operate in its ecosystem.

So far, the open-source, decentralized protocol has maintained a 19% market share of the crypto market with huge potential to become a strong contender for the crypto throne in the near future.

This potential is further strengthened by the recent launch of the decentralized Verifiable Random Function (dVRF) service on the Ethereum mainnet by the SupraOracles dApp.

The dVRF allows blockchain protocols to securely access real-world information authenticated by a vetted pool of data providers.

⚡ @SupraOracles is thrilled to announce that we’ve successfully launched our decentralized Verifiable Random Function (dVRF) service on the #Ethereum Mainnet 🎉

This is a huge step forward for our team 👣 pic.twitter.com/18mipr5pzn

— Supra (@SupraOracles) December 12, 2023

The SupraOracles network joins a growing pool of decentralized oracle networks (DONs) that help blockchain services stay in the loop of happenings outside of themselves.