Bitcoin (BTC) repeated earlier volatility at the April 1 Wall Street open as US trade tariff talk kept markets nervous.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin stays erratic ahead of crunch tariffs

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD making rapid moves within its weekly trading range of around $83,000.

US stocks ticked lower at the open, while gold came off fresh all-time highs of $3,149 per ounce.

Talk of recession began to return to the spotlight ahead of US President Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day,” due on April 2 and on which he promised to unveil a new round of trade tariffs.

“Equity markets are clearly pricing-in a recession: The S&P 500 is down -2% since Fed rate cuts began in September 2024,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter wrote in part of an X thread on the topic.

Kobeissi referred to the Federal Reserve easing of financial policy in the form of interest rate cuts — something now on pause but which markets see resuming in June, per data from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Fed target rate probabilities for June 18 FOMC meeting. Source: CME Group

While this would be a clear bullish catalyst for crypto and risk assets, Kobeissi noted that history had not favored strong equities rebounds under similar circumstances.

“In the case of rate cuts during a recession, the S&P 500 declined -6% in 6 months -10% within 12 months,” it continued.

“The AVERAGE post-pivot return is +1% in 6 months.”

S&P 500 performance comparison. Source: The Kobeissi Letter/X

Trading firm QCP Capital was similarly cautious about the overall market landscape thanks to macroeconomic forces.

“With consumer confidence plumbing 12-year lows and equity markets already rattled by a 4-5% weekly drawdown, the timing couldn’t be worse,” it wrote about tariffs in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers. 

“There is a real risk that a broad and aggressive regime could deepen recession fears and send risk assets spiraling. That said, political theatre often leaves room for recalibration. A softer-than-expected rollout could offer markets a brief reprieve.”BTC price action heads to key resistance

BTC price action thus left market observers keen for stronger signals over momentum, even as fundamental support at $80,000 held firm.

Related: Bitcoin sellers ‘dry up’ as weekly exchange inflows near 2-year low

“Some upside momentum today, but it’s still just a 3-wave move, and resistance is holding strong,” trading channel More Crypto Online summarized about an Elliott Wave schematic for the 30-minute chart, adding that “the rally’s got more to prove.”

BTC/USD 30-minute chart. Source: More Crypto Online/X

Popular trader Jelle noted BTC/USD respecting the 50-week simple moving average (SMA), currently at $76,600, as support.

Bitcoin, he hoped, would reclaim $84,500 as its next leg up, having rejected there earlier in the day.

BTC/USD 1-week chart with 50SMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

QCP meanwhile shared positive news from investors eyeing possible higher levels to come next.

“On our desk, activity was skewed bullish into Asia open,” it reported. 

“Buyers were seen taking topside exposure ($85k-$90k strikes) and selling downside risk ($75k strikes), a potential bet on a firmer start to Q2.”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Update (April 2, 6:30 am UTC): This article has been updated to add a statement from Binance on investigating the volatility of the Act I The AI Prophecy (ACT) token.

A number of altcoins and memecoins saw a sharp sell-off on April Fools’ Day, April 1, with some tokens, including Act I The AI Prophecy, dropping nearly 60% in minutes.

Act I The AI Prophecy (ACT), a token associated with the eponymous project focused on artificial intelligence, plunged 58% from $0.19 to $0.08 in less than an hour on April 1, with its market cap shedding $96 million, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

The sharp drop of ACT came along with notable red action in the altcoin market, with memecoins like sudeng (HIPPO), CZ’S Dog (BROCCOLI), Kishu Inu (KISHU), DeXe (DEXE), dForce (DF) and more seeing significant price declines.

Cryptocurrency market at a glance. Source: Coin360

The broader crypto market hasn’t reacted negatively to panic in altcoin markets, with major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) remaining green at the time of writing.

Act I “fully aware of the situation” 

The massive drop in the ACT token has not gone unnoticed on social media, with Act I taking to X to assure its community that the project is fully aware of the current situation.

“Our team is actively investigating and working collaboratively with all relevant parties to address this matter,” Act I wrote, adding that it also started developing a “response plan” with its trusted partners.

Source: Act I The AI Prophecy

Some crypto commentators linked the sudden price movement to a margin update by Binance.

Binance’s leverage update triggers a $3.8 million whale liquidation

According to data from the blockchain analytics tool Lookonchain, Binance’s update of leverage and margin tiers on tokens like ACT on April 1 has triggered some massive liquidations among whales.

“Binance updated leverage and margin tiers on tokens like ACT — and a whale got liquidated for $3.79M at $0.1877,” Lookonchain said in an X post.

Source: Lookonchain

According to a blog post by Binance, its derivatives platform, Binance Futures, updated to leverage and margin tiers for pairs such as ACT versus Tether USDt (USDT) at 10:30 UTC.

Related: Listing an altcoin traps exchanges on ‘forever hamster wheel’ — River CEO

The update affected existing positions opened before the update, potentially leading to some position expirations, Binance noted.

Binance investigates ACT volatility

Binance subsequently posted about the ACT issue on its blog at around 5:00 pm UTC, reporting that “three VIP users sold ACT token worth approximately 514,000 USDT on the Binance spot market.”

The announcement also mentioned another spot ACT sale worth around 540,000 USDT by a non-VIP user, adding that the exchange has “not identified any single account which made significant profits from this incident.”

An excerpt from Binance’s preliminary investigation into price volatility of low market cap tokens. Source: Binance

Additionally, Binance stressed the role of market makers (MM) in its ecosystem, adding that Binance will continue to adjust different pairs’ leverage based on market conditions.

Speculation over Wintermute selling

The altcoin bleeding came amid community speculation surrounding selling by the global algorithmic trading firm Wintermute, which reportedly liquidated multiple altcoin positions on April 1.

Some market observers even suggested that the selling was due to a hack, while many expressed confusion over possible reasons for the selling’s root cause.

“MMs don’t just nuke their own books for fun. Either it’s a hack, insolvency, or someone is getting margin called hard,” DEFI Kadic commented.

Some also speculated about Wintermute interacting with the USD1 stablecoin by Donald Trump-linked World Liberty Financial.

Source: Daniele (Degen Arc)

“That being a major deal for them, they are derisking all assets that might be non-compliant or non-matching the new brand direction they are taking of an institutional player,” the X user claimed.

Wintermute co-founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy denied the company’s involvement in the altcoin massacre on April 1 in a social media exchange with X user ilikeblocks.

“Not us [for what it’s worth], but also curious about that post mortem,” Gaevoy wrote.

Source: ilikeblocks and Wintermute co-founder and CEO Evgeny Gaevoy (wishfulcynic)

Ilikeblocks later posted to express regret for their initial allegation about Wintermute.

“They’re making markets better for all of us and in comparison to their competition they’re really not that shady,” they added.

Cointelegraph approached Wintermute for comment regarding the market action but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge

Opinion by: Dr. Michael Tabone, senior economist for Cointelegraph

Bitcoin (BTC) has long been hailed as unbreakable and untouchable, a digital stronghold against the forces of change. Bitcoin’s bedrock of security is facing its first true test with quantum computing, which should be addressed sooner rather than later. Its cryptographic armor will crack if not addressed, forcing the network to adapt or perish.

Bitcoin’s node count is growing, but incentives are still absent

Bitcoin’s full node network has grown over time, a sign of increasing adoption and a more robust infrastructure, but the core issue remains. The voluntary act of running a node still has no financial incentive. Miners earn rewards for securing the network, yet full node operators get nothing for their role in keeping Bitcoin decentralized.

At the same time, a significant portion of these nodes are run by exchanges, custodians and large mining pools. These are centralized entities with financial incentives to maintain control. Suppose Bitcoin’s node network continues to expand without proper incentives. In that case, the risk remains that validation will become increasingly dependent on a few well-funded players rather than a truly distributed base of individual users (see Figure 1).

FBitcoin node operation has increased by only 15,605 in 8 years. Source: Bitnodes.io 

All of this comes as running a Bitcoin node has never been easier. Plug-and-play solutions like Umbrel, Start9, RaspiBlitz, Cubit and Ronin Dojo allow anyone to set up a full node on low-cost hardware with minimal technical knowledge. These tools have lowered the barrier to entry, making node operation more accessible than ever before.

Yet adoption remains stagnant. Despite the ease of setup, most Bitcoin users still do not run their own nodes. The reason is simple: There is no financial incentive to do so.

Recent: Decentralization is in danger — We can fix itUnlike miners, who earn block subsidies and transaction fees for securing the network, full node operators receive nothing. They validate transactions, enforce consensus rules, and contribute to Bitcoin’s decentralization, yet their efforts go unrewarded. As a result, node operation remains an ideological commitment rather than an economically viable activity.

If Bitcoin must be forked, we must use it to strengthen decentralization

Critics of the proposal argue that Bitcoin’s monetary policy should remain untouched. Others warn that introducing full node incentives could lead to Sybil attacks, where bad actors spin up thousands of fake nodes to exploit rewards. These concerns are valid — but they ignore the larger reality.

Bitcoin is on the path toward a forced consensus change. The honest debate is not whether Bitcoin should change but whether we will use this moment to strengthen it. If full Bitcoin node incentives are implemented correctly, they could drive a surge in node adoption, strengthening the network’s censorship resistance and reinforcing its decentralization. This would reduce dependence on large mining pools and exchanges for validation, spreading control more evenly among individual participants. Bitcoiners will have to continue pushing to keep Bitcoin resilient against corporate influence in a post-quantum world where security and decentralization will matter more than ever in the years ahead.

Poorly designed incentives could introduce risks, particularly Sybil attacks, where bad actors spin up thousands of fake nodes to exploit rewards. These challenges can be solved with the right Sybil resistance mechanisms in place. Ignoring them entirely would be far riskier than addressing them head-on.

Source: Michael Tabone

Bitcoin’s future depends on this moment

Bitcoin’s greatest strength is its ability to remain decentralized and censorship-resistant. But that strength is not automatic; it requires an infrastructure that encourages broad participation.

The quantum-resistant hard fork will be a once-in-a-generation event. We may not get another chance if we fail to use it to fix Bitcoin’s broken incentive structure. Bitcoin’s future depends on getting this moment right.

This conversation should continue, but you should have some skin in the game and run a node yourself first. 

Opinion by: Dr. Michael Tabone, senior economist for Cointelegraph.

This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has announced the shutdown of its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.

In an April 1 announcement, Bybit warned its users that its NFT marketplace will cease operations on April 8 at 4:00 pm (UTC). Furthermore, at that time, the exchange will also shut down its Inscription Marketplace and its initial decentralized exchange offering initiative.

The announcement explains that the measures are part of Bybit’s “efforts to streamline our offerings.” The decision follows a similar decision by major NFT marketplace X2Y2 announced earlier this week.

Charu Sethi, president at NFT-focused Polkadot and Kusama chain Unique Network, told Cointelegraph at the time that the market moved on from speculative to utility-based:

“The speculative phase focused on collectibles and trading is over, but NFTs are now entering their next growth era as core infrastructure enabling massive opportunities in gaming, AI, fan engagement and content authentication.“The NFT market is on a downward trend

The non-fungible token market at large is seeing a significant downturn. Daily NFT trading volume was over $18 million 364 days ago and stands at $5.34 million at the time of publication — a 70% fall.

Related: Bitcoin NFTs, layer-2 and restaking hype ‘completely gone’

The fall is even more dire when contrasted with the heights reported on Dec. 17, 2024, when volume exceeded $113.6 million. Since then, volume has fallen by over 95%.

NFT marketplace daily trading volume. Source: Token Terminal

Weak investor interest in speculative NFTs is felt throughout the market. Reports resurfaced earlier today show that NFT project Gutter Cat Gang (GCG) saw a rocky token launch of its GANG token on Apechain on March 31, attributed to a “technical issue” by a third party. However, others pointed to reportedly low interest in the token.

Related: Bybit: 89% of stolen $1.4B crypto still traceable post-hack

Data shared online indicated that the project only attracted 3.66 Ether (ETH), worth about $6,800, in its token sale. This is a far cry from the project’s $1 million target — but the team has not yet addressed those claims.

A late March report shows that NFT sales dropped sharply in the first quarter of 2025, plunging 63% year-over-year. Still, the report points out some outliers such as Doodles, Milady Maker and Pudgy Penguins all outperforming expectations.

Magazine: Trump-Biden bet led to obsession with ‘idiotic’ NFTs —Batsoupyum, NFT Collector

Update April 1, 1:42 pm UTC: This article has been updated to add comments from Cyvers co-founder and chief technology officer Meir Dolev.

An unauthorized party withdrew about $70 million in digital assets from open-source payment platform UPCX, according to a security alert issued on April 1.

The blockchain security firm Cyvers flagged suspicious activity involving 18.4 million UPC tokens, estimating the value of the compromised funds at $70 million.

Cyvers said someone accessed a UPCX address and upgraded its ProxyAdmin contract. The attacker then executed a function that allows admins to withdraw, leading to fund transfers from three different management accounts. 

At the time of writing, the stolen tokens had not been swapped for other crypto assets.

Cointelegraph contacted UPCX for comment but did not receive an immediate response. 

UPC price dips 7% following unauthorized transfer

UPCX acknowledged it had detected “unauthorized activity” involving its management accounts. The team suspended deposits and withdrawals for UPCX in response to the incident. It said user assets are unaffected by the issue and it is actively investigating the matter. 

UPC’s token price dropped amid news of the incident. According to CoinGecko, UPC’s token prices dropped 7%, from a high of $4.06 to a low of $3.77 during the incident. 

UPCX 24-hour price chart. Source: CoinGecko

Related: Hacker steals $8.4M from RWA restaking protocol Zoth

UPC hack mirrors previous attack patterns

In a statement, Cyvers co-founder and chief technology officer Meir Dolev told Cointelegraph that while the root cause of the attack remained under investigation, these types of incidents often stem from compromised credentials or flawed access control mechanisms. 

Dolev told Cointelegraph that both of these vulnerabilities have been the predominant cause of Web3 losses in 2024. The executive said the same causes were responsible for over 80% of the stolen funds during the year. 

The cybersecurity executive also said the attack pattern was similar to previous exploits. Dolev told Cointelegraph: 

“This incident mirrors attack patterns we’ve documented in prior exploits, where access to critical administrative roles enabled malicious upgrades and fund drainage.”

The executive added that the hack underscored an urgent need to enhance security around wallet permissions, multisignature implementations and runtime transaction validation. 

The $70 million stolen in the incident would more than double the amount lost in the previous month. In March, crypto stolen from hacks only reached $33 million. 

Magazine: Memecoins are ded — But Solana ‘100x better’ despite revenue plunge

A former executive of the Web3 game Blade of God X (BOGX) accused the project of abandoning its blockchain-based roadmap after raising funds through the crypto space.

On April 1, BOGX’s former chief marketing officer Amber Bella claimed in an X post that despite being funded by Web3 sources, the game “completely abandoned” its Web3 goals and the team working on its Web3 features.  

“Web3 was completely abandoned, and my Web3 team’s salaries went from delayed payments to no payments at all,” Bella claimed.

The former game executive also said that instead of compensating users and repaying funds to non-fungible token (NFT) buyers, the game’s founder, Tnise Liu Yang, decided to block her from all personal communication channels.

Related: Kalshi sues Nevada and New Jersey gaming regulators

Former BOGX exec says founder avoided refund conversation 

In the X thread, Bella claimed she attempted to convince Yang to properly liquidate the game’s Web3 assets, but the BOGX founder blocked all communications. Bella wrote: 

“When I requested that Tnise refund all sold NFTs and properly address the Web3 community, including returning the in-game purchases made by Web3 users during the third test, I discovered I had been blocked from all personal communication channels without any advance notice.”

Bella said this happened when she proposed “settling the Web3 side” responsibly if they were to shift the game into a fully Web2 project. 

In addition, the former exec accused the game’s Web2 team of claiming prizes allocated for players. Bella said that while the Web3 team was working to improve player benefits, they discovered that the Web2 team was using their own accounts to complete and claim cash prizes that should’ve gone to players. 

“They concealed this from the Web3 team entirely and initially denied it when confronted. Only when we presented evidence showing that the accounts were linked to their own wallets did they finally remove these accounts,” Bella wrote. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Blade of God X for comments but did not receive a response by publication. 

BOGX is a game action role-playing game (RPG) developed by Void Labs. On May 11, 2024, Web3 investment fund OKX Ventures announced its investment in the game. In a now-deleted press release, OKX Ventures wrote that the game “merges advanced AI agents with blockchain technology.” 

Magazine: Classic Sega, Atari and Nintendo games get crypto makeovers: Web3 Gamer

A former executive of the Web3 game Blade of God X (BOGX) has accused the project of abandoning its blockchain-based roadmap after raising funds through the crypto space.

On April 1, BOGX’s former chief marketing officer Amber Bella claimed in an X post that despite being funded by Web3 sources, the game “completely abandoned” its Web3 goals and the team working on its Web3 features. 

“Web3 was completely abandoned, and my Web3 team’s salaries went from delayed payments to no payments at all,” Bella claimed.

The former game executive also said that instead of compensating users and repaying funds to non-fungible token (NFT) buyers, the game’s founder, Tnise Liu Yang, decided to block her from all personal communication channels.

Related: Kalshi sues Nevada and New Jersey gaming regulators

Former BOGX exec says founder avoided refund conversation 

In the X thread, Bella claimed she attempted to convince Yang to properly liquidate the game’s Web3 assets, but the BOGX founder blocked all communications. Bella wrote: 

“When I requested that Tnise refund all sold NFTs and properly address the Web3 community, including returning the in-game purchases made by Web3 users during the third test, I discovered I had been blocked from all personal communication channels without any advance notice.”

Bella said this happened when she proposed “settling the Web3 side” responsibly if they were to shift the game into a fully Web2 project. 

In addition, the former exec accused the game’s Web2 team of claiming prizes allocated for players. Bella said that while the Web3 team was working to improve player benefits, they discovered that the Web2 team was using their own accounts to complete and claim cash prizes that should’ve gone to players. 

“They concealed this from the Web3 team entirely and initially denied it when confronted. Only when we presented evidence showing that the accounts were linked to their own wallets did they finally remove these accounts,” Bella wrote. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Blade of God X for comments but did not receive a response by publication. 

BOGX is a game action role-playing game (RPG) developed by Void Labs. On May 11, 2024, Web3 investment fund OKX Ventures announced its investment in the game. In a now-deleted press release, OKX Ventures wrote that the game “merges advanced AI agents with blockchain technology.” 

Magazine: Classic Sega, Atari and Nintendo games get crypto makeovers: Web3 Gamer

A former executive of the Web3 game Blade of God X (BOGX) has accused the project of abandoning its blockchain-based roadmap after raising funds through the crypto space.

On April 1, BOGX’s former chief marketing officer Amber Bella claimed in an X post that despite being funded by Web3 sources, the game “completely abandoned” its Web3 goals and the team working on its Web3 features. 

“Web3 was completely abandoned, and my Web3 team’s salaries went from delayed payments to no payments at all,” Bella claimed.

The former game executive also said that instead of compensating users and repaying funds to non-fungible token (NFT) buyers, the game’s founder, Tnise Liu Yang, decided to block her from all personal communication channels.

Related: Kalshi sues Nevada and New Jersey gaming regulators

Former BOGX exec says founder avoided refund conversation 

In the X thread, Bella claimed she attempted to convince Yang to properly liquidate the game’s Web3 assets, but the BOGX founder blocked all communications. Bella wrote: 

“When I requested that Tnise refund all sold NFTs and properly address the Web3 community, including returning the in-game purchases made by Web3 users during the third test, I discovered I had been blocked from all personal communication channels without any advance notice.”

Bella said this happened when she proposed “settling the Web3 side” responsibly if they were to shift the game into a fully Web2 project. 

In addition, the former exec accused the game’s Web2 team of claiming prizes allocated for players. Bella said that while the Web3 team was working to improve player benefits, they discovered that the Web2 team was using their own accounts to complete and claim cash prizes that should’ve gone to players. 

“They concealed this from the Web3 team entirely and initially denied it when confronted. Only when we presented evidence showing that the accounts were linked to their own wallets did they finally remove these accounts,” Bella wrote. 

Cointelegraph reached out to Blade of God X for comments but did not receive a response by publication. 

BOGX is a game action role-playing game (RPG) developed by Void Labs. On May 11, 2024, Web3 investment fund OKX Ventures announced its investment in the game. In a now-deleted press release, OKX Ventures wrote that the game “merges advanced AI agents with blockchain technology.” 

Magazine: Classic Sega, Atari and Nintendo games get crypto makeovers: Web3 Gamer

The use of hydrocarbon fuels in Bitcoin mining has seen a sharp decline over the past 13 years, with the use of coal energy dropping significantly.

The share of coal energy use in Bitcoin (BTC) mining has dropped from 63% in 2011 to 20% in 2024, according to a new report released by the industry organization MiCA Crypto Alliance in collaboration with the risk metrics data platform Nodiens.

In parallel, the share of renewable energy used in Bitcoin mining has steadily increased, growing at an average rate of 5.8% per year.

Bitcoin absolute energy consumption trends and share of renewable and coal energy. Source: MiCA Crypto Alliance

The data reflects a steady shift of Bitcoin mining to cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions, with the study forecasting further decarbonization and mitigation of BTC’s environmental footprint in the coming years.

Global coal energy use surged to new highs in 2024

While Bitcoin mining’s coal energy consumption reportedly has been dropping at an average annual 8%, global coal consumption has been rising.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based intergovernmental policy organization, global coal use surged to a new record in 2024, estimated at 8.8 billion tons.

Global coal consumption from 2000 to 2026. Source: IEA

According to the IEA, global demand for coal energy is set to stay close to record levels through 2027 as emerging economies like India, Indonesia and Vietnam are expected to see increased coal consumption in the coming years.

Five scenarios for Bitcoin’s energy path to 2030

The report outlines five future scenarios for Bitcoin’s carbon footprint, ranging from a bearish $10,000 BTC price to an ultra-bullish $1 million scenario.

The study specifically included five BTC price scenarios, with $10,000 considered as a low price scenario, a base price scenario at $110,000, a medium price scenario at $250,000, a high price scenario at $500,000 and a “very bullish” price scenario at $1 million per BTC.

Peak annual carbon footprint estimations for Bitcoin price scenarios and IEA’s energy transition scenarios. Source: MiCA Crypto Alliance

In a medium-price scenario, renewable energy is estimated to constitute between 59.3% and 74.3% of Bitcoin’s total electricity usage, depending on the policy scenario, excluding nuclear energy use, the report stated.

Related: Crusoe to sell Bitcoin mining business to NYDIG to focus on AI

The report also mentioned an expected peak in Bitcoin mining energy consumption around 2030, echoing a similar forecast in a study by the digital asset platform NYDIG released in September 2021.

According to NYDIG’s estimations, even in a high-price scenario, Bitcoin’s electricity consumption will peak at 11 times its 2020 level, accounting for 0.4% of global primary energy consumption and 2% of global electricity generation.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29

The use of hydrocarbon fuels in mining Bitcoin has seen a sharp decline over the past 13 years, with the use of coal energy in mining dropping significantly.

The share of coal energy use in Bitcoin (BTC) mining has dropped from 63% in 2011 to 20% in 2024, an average annual decrease of roughly 8%, according to a new report released on March 31 by the MiCA Crypto Alliance.

In parallel, the share of renewable energy used in Bitcoin mining has steadily increased, growing at an average rate of 5.8% per year.

Bitcoin absolute energy consumption trends and share of renewable and coal energy. Source: MiCA Crypto Alliance

The data reflects a steady shift of Bitcoin mining to cleaner and more sustainable energy solutions, with the study forecasting further decarbonization and mitigation of BTC’s environmental footprint in the coming years.

Global coal energy use surged to new highs in 2024

The transition comes amid rising global coal consumption, adding contrast to Bitcoin’s changing energy profile.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based intergovernmental policy organization, global coal use surged to a new record in 2024, estimated at 8.8 billion tonnes.

Global coal consumption from 2000 to 2026. Source: IEA

According to the IEA, global demand for coal energy is set to stay close to record levels through 2027 as emerging economies like India, Indonesia and Vietnam are expected to see a sharp rise in coal consumption in the coming years.

Five scenarios for Bitcoin’s energy path to 2030

The report lays out five future scenarios for Bitcoin’s carbon footprint, ranging from a bearish $10,000 BTC price to an ultra-bullish $1 million scenario.

The study specifically included five BTC price scenarios, with $10,000 considered as a low price scenario, a base price scenario at $110,000, a medium price scenario at $250,000, a high price scenario at $500,000 and a “very bullish” price scenario at $1 million per BTC.

Peak annual carbon footprint estimations for different Bitcoin price scenarios and IEA’s different energy transition scenarios. Source: MiCA Crypto Alliance

In a medium price scenario, renewable energy is estimated to constitute between 59.3% and 74.3% of Bitcoin’s total electricity usage, depending on the policy scenario, excluding nuclear energy use, the report stated.

Related: Crusoe to sell Bitcoin mining business to NYDIG to focus on AI

The report also mentions an expected peak in Bitcoin mining energy consumption around 2030, echoing a similar forecast in a study by the digital asset platform NYDIG released in September 2021.

According to NYDIG’s estimations, even in a high-price scenario, Bitcoin’s electricity consumption would peak at 11 times its 2020 level, but it will only account for 0.4% of global primary energy consumption and 2% of global electricity generation.

Magazine: Bitcoin ATH sooner than expected? XRP may drop 40%, and more: Hodler’s Digest, March 23 – 29