Bitcoin’s record-high price means its energy use is soaring again – just as the world tries to tackle climate change at COP26

Bitcoin’s record-high price means its energy use is soaring again – just as the world tries to tackle climate change at COP26

Has made a dramatic comeback over the last couple of months and is once again trading around record highs between $60,000 and $65,000. The bitcoin bounce means people are rushing to "mine" more of the cryptocurrency. And that means bitcoin's energy use is shooting up once again. Bitcoin's "hash rate" - the amount of computing power dedicated to mining the digital currency - has risen sharply, and analysts say it's likely to hit a new high soon. Its electricity consumption has also jumped, and is nearing the all-time highs seen in May, according to . Bitcoin is currently using around as much electricity each year , an uncomfortable fact just as world leaders meet in Glasgow, UK to try to tackle climate change at COP26. Bitcoin is so energy intensive because of the system it uses to verify transactions and keep the network secure. Ethereum - the second-biggest cryptocurrency - also uses the same system, meaning the two dominant tokens are giant energy guzzlers. Under the system, users called miners hook up massive computers to compete against each other to solve complex "cryptographic" puzzles. Solving these puzzles gives the miners the right to verify transactions, and earns them some cryptocurrency