News > Bitcoin uses as much energy as Sweden and is on course to use even more. Experts say that's a 'major problem'

Bitcoin uses as much energy as Sweden and is on course to use even more. Experts say that's a 'major problem'

As bitcoin surges to unprecedented value, the sprawling matrix of computers around the world that run its software is now consuming as much energy a year as Sweden.

Iran was recently rocked by power outages that were partly blamed on bitcoin. Bill Gates recently warned bitcoin was "not a great climate thing." U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called its energy use "staggering."