The Crypto-Chernobyl

Post by davidgerard » Thu, Feb 11, 2021, 8:58 AM UTC

donclark wrote: post #101

atweiden wrote: post #30

> And what is there to show for all this waste? The safest safe haven asset: a global currency of fixed supply controlled by computer algorithms. Essentially the author posits Earth’s ecosystems don't have room for another Argentina. But they arguably don't even have room for half of the current human population. Particularly a human population that exploits nature to the tune of millions of acres of clearcut forests…

Anyone have any data on how much waste is associated with Nasdaq, NYSE, credit card transactions, call centers to support credit cards, websites to support credit cards, ads that support credit cards, tv and radio commercials that support credit cards, etc. (for comparison)?

Post by emteycz » Thu, Feb 11, 2021, 9:25 AM UTC

ncmncm wrote: post #117

emteycz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Do you live next to a power plant? Or even in sight of a power plant? No, because we have a power grid to move this electricity around. Of course I do. There are solars and wind turbines all around me , not even talking about the natural gas and coal powerplants I can see right out of my window near the edge of the city. And every year there are many gigawatts of electricity from these exact powerplants right next…

Bitcoin miners are often, instead, stealing the power used to mine. We are more used to this for Monero coins, where the equipment used is fleets of hijacked PCs, but bitcoin miners using custom equipment are not less clever than Monero miners. People are paying for the power, just not the same people as are getting the bitcoins mined with it. This is easier to arrange in places with more retail corruption, like Chin…

Post by user-the-name » Thu, Feb 11, 2021, 9:56 AM UTC

eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 wrote: post #31

nexthash wrote: post #23

Yes, yes, yes. In another discussion, I brought up that according to current energy consumption rates for average mining equipment, it took 2.4 million terrawatts to mine the $1.5 billion in Bitcoin Tesla bought recently. Does putting this much money in Bitcoin have a positive economic impact? Does it have any tangible value other than as a stopover for hedge fund and organized crime money? I think not, despite all t…

How much energy did it consume to mint all the physical metal coins we have in circulation? How much does it consume to mint fresh ones when the old ones are damaged? Bitcoins don't wear off, the ones we've been mining now will be in use for possibly centuries to come once the block reward is zero and only transaction fees will fund the miners. By then, mining will decrease a lot because people won't be willing to pa…

Post by user-the-name » Thu, Feb 11, 2021, 10:00 AM UTC

rfd4sgmk8u wrote: post #36

duskwuff wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what's your response? That spending an ever-increasing amount of energy and generating a significant quantity of non-reusable electronics waste on a Red Queen's race is Good, Actually? And if so: why?

All technology behaves this way! It generates a significant quantity of non-reusable electronics waste, from that 10 year old laptop to that 3 year old cell phone. Its ALWAYS a Red Queens race. This is good actually, because our lives are enhanced by the resultant technology to solve our problems. What I feel is missing from these comparisons to waste is a sense of scale. Quoting Gigajoules of usage should be seen as…

Post by leereeves » Thu, Feb 11, 2021, 10:45 AM UTC

atweiden wrote: post #30

> And what is there to show for all this waste? The safest safe haven asset: a global currency of fixed supply controlled by computer algorithms. Essentially the author posits Earth’s ecosystems don't have room for another Argentina. But they arguably don't even have room for half of the current human population. Particularly a human population that exploits nature to the tune of millions of acres of clearcut forests…