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Digiconomist
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@DigiEconomist

Digiconomist

@DigiEconomist
Exposing the Unintended Consequences of Digital Trends. Mastodon: @[email protected] Bluesky: @digiconomist.bsky.social
digiconomist.net
Joined February 2014
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  • Pinned
    @DigiEconomist
    Digiconomist
    @DigiEconomist
    Oct 10, 2023
    It has been nine years since Digiconomist was first launched with the objective of “exposing the unintended consequences of digital trends.” For a big part of these nine years, the sustainability of digital assets such as Bitcoin has been a key focus of the research by
    18
  • @DigiEconomist
    Digiconomist
    @DigiEconomist
    Feb 24
    Over the past year, my research has first highlighted the rapidly growing power demand of AI systems, followed by an assessment of the associated carbon and water footprints. My latest research addresses another consequence of the expanding AI infrastructure: electronic waste.
    4
  • @DigiEconomist
    Digiconomist
    @DigiEconomist
    Jan 5
    Let’s start the year by reflecting on the colossal growth in the resource consumption of AI and what it means for 2026. At the start of 2025, the global power demand of AI systems was approximately 9.4 GW. By the end of the year, this demand had likely increased to around 23 GW.
    3
  • @DigiEconomist
    Digiconomist
    @DigiEconomist
    Dec 21, 2025
    It appears the media have moved on to AI where they are, in fact, still using my research. Of course, amid the AI frenzy, it is worth remembering that Bitcoin remains responsible wasting as much resources as AI systems require in total at the moment.
    @DSBatten
    Daniel Batten
    @DSBatten
    Dec 19, 2025
    2 years since mainstream media have quoted de Vries on Bitcoin In Mar 2024, a peer reviewed paper by Sai & Vranken discredited the entirety of de Vries' work. His Bitcoin "studies" haven't been used by the media since ...not before 1000s of articles quoting him were circulated
  • @DigiEconomist
    Digiconomist
    @DigiEconomist
    Oct 29, 2025
    I moved on to AI about three years ago, but glad to see my name still out there. Pro tip: a current measurement of direct water consumption in New York ≠ the total GLOBAL average water consumption (direct + INDIRECT) in 2021. Try saying something smarter in another 3 years.
    @DSBatten
    Daniel Batten
    @DSBatten
    Oct 23, 2025
    Watershed moment: de Vries bogus "swimming pool per transaction" metrics get replaced by @MARA's (real world) water metrics Bitcoin mining operations use 1/3 the water of an average US household
    5