The production of bitcoin, this electronic currency that has grown significantly in recent years, will consume more electricity than many large countries such as Argentina or Norway, concludes a recent study by the University of Cambridge.

Cryptocurrency production and transactions are performed using complex mathematical algorithms. However, the more decoding machines that work at the same time, the faster “my” bitcoin solution will be found, which leads to “cryptominers” to increase the number of computers dedicated to the task.

In addition to the electricity used to run these machines, large amounts of energy are also used to protect computers from overheating, the University of Cambridge noted on its website.

Thus the study suggests that the production of bitcoin will consume about 129.09 terawatt / hour per year. This will be about 0.6% of the total electricity used globally every year, according to 2016 figures.

In 2019, if bitcoin were a country, its electricity consumption would have been 28.^I World rank, ahead of countries like Argentina, Norway and Pakistan.