Have you ever wondered why Bitcoin and Ethereum are so power-hungry when they are both ledger systems?

The data is right here—Bitcoin's annual electricity consumption is 100 TWh, Ethereum's is 84 TWh, while Pi Network only consumes 0.002 TWh. Simply put, Pi's energy consumption is less than one fifty-thousandth of Bitcoin's. The difference is enormous.

Why is there such a gap? The key lies in the consensus mechanism.

Bitcoin and Ethereum use proof of work, which essentially means miners keep calculating hashes, and whoever finds the solution first gets to record the transaction. This process consumes a huge amount of computing power and naturally uses a lot of electricity. Pi Network is different; it uses proof of stake combined with social trust circles to verify transactions, which doesn't require the energy-intensive mining competition.

From an environmental perspective, this design approach aligns better with future development trends. In the context of global energy shortages and increasingly strict carbon emission standards, low-energy blockchain systems are obviously more competitive. They are not only eco-friendly but also more scalable.