Cardano Founder Says 2 Million Units of Bitcoin is Lost Forever

• Cardano founder said miners currently get a diminishing return on mining operations.
• By implication, the two million BTC yet to be mined will never be recovered.
• Bitcoin mining consumes as much energy as Argentina, 131.26 terawatt-hours yearly.

Charles Hoskinson, the founder of the Cardano network, took to Twitter to express his opinion on what he believes will happen to the mining operation of the most popular crypto, Bitcoin (BTC), in a few years.

In an online session themed, “Bitcoin is Digital Gold. Let’s talk about the Mine,” Hoskinson said miners are currently getting a diminishing return on their attempts to make a new block of Bitcoin. He believes that the two million units of bitcoin yet to be mined are ultimately lost to the network due to the excessive amount of energy its production requires.

Cardano founder argued:

Leaving the mine on for another hundred years and all the energy it would consume to get an additional two million Bitcoin: Is that a good energy investment when you already have 19 million in circulation?

According to the Digiconomist’s Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, it takes 1,449 kWh, or around 50 days of typical US home electricity, to mine one bitcoin transaction. Additionally, bitcoin mining consumes about as much energy as Argentina, at an annual level of 131.26 terawatt-hours.

However, a mining firm countered Hoskinson’s arguments that the Bitcoin mines still need to be in operation since they serve as a payment system, a counterbalance to the traditional financial system, the source of truth, and more.

Hoskinson responded that most of the BTC in circulation are in custodial accounts and that “you don’t need to keep the goldmine on for gold to be valuable.” He also predicted that in five years, most of the BTC in circulation would leave the network and become wrapped.