In a video now making waves across crypto and tech circles, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is seen offering an unusual perspective on Bitcoin’s energy usage. Huang argues that Bitcoin shouldn’t be viewed only as wasteful consumption but as a way to convert excess electricity into a portable form of value.
Huang says Bitcoin effectively “takes excess energy and stores it in a new form, called currency.” This allows value to be transported globally rather than lost. This new perspective from an industry heavyweight opposes the long-standing criticism that Bitcoin’s proof-of-work mining is inherently wasteful. Huang opines that mining can monetize energy that otherwise goes unused. He sees the need to tap grids with surplus renewable output.
Bitcoin’s Energy Dilemma
Bitcoin’s energy consumption has always been a controversial topic in climate discussions. Studies show that mining requires large amounts of electricity, which environmental groups label as wasteful or damaging. Yet supporters have often countered that argument, saying that it’s the unused and excess energy from renewable resources like wind, solar, and hydroelectricity that can be used for mining, thus softening the environmental impact.
Other prominent figures that have echoed the same sentiment as Huand include Tesla CEO Elon Musk. He has previously described Bitcoin’s value as fundamentally linked to the physical energy required to secure the network, framing it as an “energy-based money.” Similarly, Prince Filipe of Serbia, when speaking to Coin Medium on the sidelines of the Bitcoin MENA, said that Bitcoin miners should be incentivized to search out where energy is the cheapest and use that for mining.