This is how much it costs to mine one Bitcoin in the U.S. [and elsewhere]

Back in its early days, Bitcoin was merely a passion project for a handful of dedicated enthusiasts eager to try this revolutionary financial technology. Anyone with a decent consumer PC could mine Bitcoins for a negligible price, as the mining difficulty was significantly lower, and discovering new blocks often required just a decent CPU.

It is estimated that, in 2009, the entire Bitcoin network consumed roughly one MWh of power for the entire year, comparable to the monthly electricity usage of a single average US household. Some sources say that the entire network used just 4.7 megawatt-hours of energy by mid-2010. Although sources vary, the difference is minimal and doesn’t change the fact that Bitcoin wasn’t a major energy spender during that period.

Fast forward 15 years, and the numbers look staggering in comparison. The same amount of energy that powered Bitcoin’s first 18 months of existence would now be burned through in roughly one second!

According to new research from BestBrokers, which analyzes global Bitcoin mining operations, the network currently consumes 417.18 gigawatt-hours of electricity worldwide every single day to produce around 450 coins.

That's 152,270 GWh annually, exceeding the total energy consumption of countries like Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. In just a decade and a half, what was once a hobby for early adopters can now power entire economies.

Mining a single Bitcoin now requires 927,060.84 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is enough to power an average American household for roughly 88 years! In the US, this translated to a cost of $130,000 per coin in December 2025, based on the average commercial electricity rate of $0.141 per kWh.

For reference, Satoshi Nakamoto reportedly spent around $3,700 to mine one million Bitcoins in 2009!

If we take into account that Bitcoin was trading for around $87,000 in November 2025 (and still does at the time of writing), the average cost per mined coin points to substantial losses under standard commercial rates.

Only a handful of regions, where the cost of electricity is significantly lower than the global average, can even come close to profitability. The most favorable countries for mining Bitcoin in 2025 were Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Norway, where miners were spending $61,940, $66,563 and $66,630 per coin, respectively. Kazakhstan, in particular, went all-in on Bitcoin, dedicating 16.82% of the country's total power consumption to mining.

To be fair, these eye-watering loss figures assume mining at retail electricity rates. However, most large-scale mining operations typically secure more favorable rates through direct deals with power suppliers, which allows them to get closer to profit. Miners also claim that 54–59% of mining used renewables in 2024–2025. Still, these figures are mostly self-reported, so the clear picture of the total price per coin remains somewhat unclear.

To put this into perspective, the U.S. Bitcoin mining operation alone could charge every electric vehicle in America 126 times over, provide electricity to 5.5 million households, or charge 11 million iPhone 17s daily for a year. It could also power Google's entire global infrastructure for 1 year and 9 months

Bitcoin's value dropped sharply in 2025, but the mining continues. With all this infrastructure, miners are still betting that prices will eventually justify the energy costs. Whether that gamble pays off remains to be seen.

Source

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Posted Monday 26 January 2026 at 11:55 am AEST (my time).

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