Why Bitcoin’s Energy Problem Is So Hard to Fix: QuickTake

Can you love Bitcoin and the environment at the same time? The world’s dominant cryptocurrency depends on so-called miners whose high-powered computers run day and night to process transactions. Its energy consumption is ballooning so fast that it’s alarming environmentalists, governments and other big energy users. China has banned Bitcoin mining entirely and billionaire Elon Musk won’t take the token as payment for his Tesla cars until miners switch to at least 50% renewable power. With many of them still hooked on electricity from fossil fuels, that’s going to be a tall order.

1. How much power is involved?

Bitcoin’s ...