Earlier quoted context omitted.
Precisely. Without Bitcoin, we could be retiring coal plants with the additional solar and wind that have been coming online. Instead, every additional Watt-hour we generate is used to mine Bitcoin on top of existing demand.
That's an absurd argument. And as long as we're using solar and wind, we'll need backup from coal, gas and nuclear for when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. If you think increasing battery capacity will solve that, read up on the supply chain of lithium.
Nuclear is mostly baseload... not so much because its impossible to ramp-down nuclear, but because nuclear's initial-investment (site planning / engineering / regulations) are the bulk of its costs. Ongoing costs (ie: fuel) are miniscule.
There's "no point" ramping down Nuclear, given its miniscule fuel costs. Might as well keep pumping electricity as long as the price of electricity is non-negative.
So only gas ramps up-and-down.
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As such, Solar / Wind + Gas Peaker combinations are very good for ramping down Coal production. Because the bulk of electricity is needed in the daytime (due to the hot sun making AC work harder), Solar/Wind + Gas Peakers will use less fossil fuels than a Coal baseload generator over the same period.