Bitcoin Turns Wasted Energy into Currency

• Huang says Bitcoin transforms unused electricity into currency that moves freely worldwide.
• Texas and Brazil wasted huge renewable power, highlighting Bitcoin’s energy-capture potential.
• Over half of Bitcoin mining now uses renewable or stranded energy sources globally.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has challenged one of Bitcoin’s biggest criticisms, offering a new way to look at the cryptocurrency’s energy use. Speaking during a panel on AI and global power demand, Huang said Bitcoin mining can help solve a real problem that power grids face every day: wasted energy.

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Huang’s New Argument: Bitcoin Stores Energy as Currency

Huang described Bitcoin as a tool that turns excess electricity into a tradable global asset.

“Bitcoin is taking excess energy, storing it into a new form, it’s called currency. And you take that currency wherever you like. So you took energy from one place and now you’ve transported it everywhere.” he said. 

His comments come as grids around the world struggle with renewable power that cannot be used or stored. In 2024, Texas wasted 8 terawatt-hours of wind and solar. Brazil threw away even more in 2025. This lost energy has no buyer and no battery to save it.

Why His View Matters

Huang’s remarks have drawn attention because he is not a Bitcoin advocate. Nvidia does not depend on mining revenue the way many crypto-focused companies do. As the head of a $4.5 trillion AI giant, his words carry weight far outside crypto circles.

His perspective also connects with Bitcoin researchers who say the network increasingly uses renewable and stranded power. Estimates in 2025 show more than half of Bitcoin’s mining activity comes from sustainable sources.

However, according to the Digiconomist Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, the network uses around 175.9 terawatt-hours per year, more electricity than entire nations such as Poland or Argentina.

An Analyst Says the “Physics of Money Has Changed”

Following Huang’s statement, one analyst said the comments show a deeper shift: for the first time, energy can be converted into value that moves freely across borders.

Rather than dying unused, surplus electricity can become digital currency, recorded in Bitcoin’s network and sent globally.

This idea frames Bitcoin not as digital gold, but as a new way to monetize energy that grids cannot store. 

“Stranded renewables become profitable. Remote regions become energy exporters. The economics of electricity generation inverts permanently. Energy is no longer trapped. Energy is now free,” the analyst said.

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