Is Bitcoin Energy Usage A Myth? Mike Novogratz Says BTC Uses 'Less Than Christmas Lights'

Bitcoin BTC/USD has long been criticized for its energy consumption. The seemingly never-ending debate was at the forefront of cryptocurrency discussions for a large part of 2021.

Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd BRPHF CEO Mike Novogratz aimed to put an end to that debate Thursday when he called Bitcoin's energy usage problem a myth.

"It's just not true. Bitcoin uses 0.12% of total energy usage. That's less than Christmas lights," Novogratz said on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

The root of the problem is that those who oppose Bitcoin have argued that Bitcoin uses as much energy as all of Denmark, he said, but Denmark has a low population that doesn't use much energy, according to Novogratz.

Denmark is the 115th largest country with a population of around 5.8 million, representing about 0.70% of the world's population, according to World Population Review.

See Also: Why Jack Dorsey Says Bitcoin Will Replace The Dollar, Ethereum Is No Good

Albeit, Bitcoin does use a lot of electricity, but Novogratz said more and more miners are transitioning to green energy. Eighty percent of Galaxy Digital's Bitcoin mining is green and he expects it to reach 100% in about a year.

"This is a story that our industry has to combat because it became kind of bad news and now it seems to be taking us back. It's just not true," he emphasized.

Novogratz also argued that Bitcoin's electricity usage and the complication of how it's stored "gives people faith that it's really safe."

"If you are going to store $2 trillion or $10 trillion of value, you want it in something that's safe," he said.

$BTC Price Action: At publication time, Bitcoin was down 0.49% at $48,556 over a 24-hour period.