"#Bitcoin #mining now consumes two whole percent of electricity in the US, all to perform math problems that are entirely pointless by design.
None of that touches on the vast architecture that has accreted around #cryptocurrency—the forums and the exchanges and the #NFTs—like some cancerous tumor."
@HeavenlyPossum
https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/02/over-2-percent-of-the-uss-electricity-generation-now-goes-to-bitcoin/
@josemurilo the energy is being spent to buy bitcoin.
It's not that bitcoin consumes it but that people are willing to trade it for the value they get for Bitcoin.
No, that is the electricity wasted to perform math problems to “mint” new bitcoin.
@HeavenlyPossum not at all.
Bitcoin could be run from a solar panel and a car battery. It doesn't take that much energy to run the Bitcoin system.
However, people do decide that they would like to pay more in energy as they bid for new bitcoin. That is their choice, and It reflects the value of Bitcoin to each person exchanging extra energy for the Bitcoin.
Mining bitcoin doesn't have to be expensive. But people have decided it's worth more energy, so they trade more energy for it.
@volkris @HeavenlyPossum @josemurilo Deforestation doesn't have to hurt the forest. it's just that people believe the trees are more valuable as lumber than as live trees. It's their choice to cut the trees. It's their decision to turn the tree into lumber. Not the best analogy, I know. Things made of lumber have actual value, unlike crypto.
@brinnbelyea @josemurilo @volkris
Or perhaps: the lumber industry wouldn’t consume that many trees if people only wanted one toothpick worth of wood each year, but they want many more.
Bitcoin mining could be run on a car battery if people were content to mine one bitcoin a century, but they want many more.
It’s absurd to dismiss enormous costs on the grounds that those costs could be much lower in a counterfactual world.
@HeavenlyPossum exactly! So that highlights that people want bitcoin!
@josemurilo @volkris @brinnbelyea
That people desire something does not excuse that thing
@HeavenlyPossum @josemurilo @volkris I think the simpleminded point that is being made is that people exchange things. As if that was not so obvious and needed mentioning. For some, any exchange that occurs is sanctified by the Holy Market and therefore the exchange cannot be criticized, or even questioned.
@brinnbelyea I mean you're welcome to criticize people for improving their lots in life, but I would suggest that you at least recognize that they are improving their lots in life.
You can criticize a person for doing what's best for themselves. You can call it selfish if you want, it certainly is.
But so often people overlook that this makes people better off.
