Earlier quoted context omitted.
Inflation isn't a bad thing necessarily.
> Inflation isn't a bad thing necessarily. if you are already rich...
Absolutely no inflation ever is a bad thing - see the Great Depression.
Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
271–280 of 470 posts
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#272Earlier quoted context omitted.
"technological development". Don't we already have plenty of more efficient coins out there?
I’ve never understood the BTC purists. I’m generally anti-crypto in any variety, but As far as cryptocurrency‘s go, bitcoin is really bad compared to so many alternatives. I’d just as soon see it all go up in smoke. But why does BTC reign?
Bitcoin is more successful mainly due to network effects and proven security, Bitcoin has withstood more attacks than any other cryptocurrency.
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#273Earlier quoted context omitted.
The worst part is that according to Cambridge some 40% of that is coal power [1]. Frequently the dirtiest coal power in the world, between Xinjiang (no longer, probably...) and Kazakhstan. Coal power causes excess mortality of anywhere between 25 and 278 deaths per TWh generated depending on how you're counting it and (most importantly) where it's generated. [2,3,4] Bitcoin's addiction to dirty coal killed between 15…
There are no new dirty power plants like coal or nuclear built specifically for bitcoin mining. There are definitely new renewable energy sources built for bitcoin mining. So dirty energy would be used anyway! The rate of new renewable energy sources created because of bitcoin is higher overall than without bitcoin.
Here's one. [1]
[1] https://e360.yale.edu/digest/bitcoin-miners-resurrect-fossil...
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#274Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok, imagine yourself in Belarus. All traditional means are under government control. How do you fund anti-Lukashemko guerrillas? Cash?
Yes, for example. Or any other way that has worked more or less well throughout history. Few people are buying the “but the dissidents” argument of cryptocurrency. It’s a valid use case in theory but little so far shows that has been a use case. The thing about Bitcoin is that it’s mature tech now. Whatever promises it has should be materialized now. If it’s to be a currency rather than a store of value and instrumen…
> but little so far shows that has been a use case.
How do you think I donate to the anti-Putin opposition every month?!
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#275Earlier quoted context omitted.
The worst part is that according to Cambridge some 40% of that is coal power [1]. Frequently the dirtiest coal power in the world, between Xinjiang (no longer, probably...) and Kazakhstan. Coal power causes excess mortality of anywhere between 25 and 278 deaths per TWh generated depending on how you're counting it and (most importantly) where it's generated. [2,3,4] Bitcoin's addiction to dirty coal killed between 15…
Assuming it killed 15000 people, that is still over 8000 transactions per person killed... Nothing is perfect.
If one person died for every 8000 transactions on the Visa network it would be nothing short of global genocide.
Credit networks ran 468 billion transactions in 2020, so that would be 60 million dead.
"Pobody's nerfect" hardly seems like the right response.
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#276I don't doubt the number, but it does make me genuinely curious. How does this compare to other software? How much energy does running, for example, Facebook require? How much extra energy is required if you use a language like Ruby, PHP, Python, etc. versus a language like C? It will be interesting to see how energy consumption will be a part of software in the future. I wonder if we will see something like "green"…
I feel this is the wrong comparison. PoW intentionally raises the difficulty by making computer do more "work" finding useless hashes as the price of crypto goes up. The "work" isn't used for processing transactions, which is why the number of transactions per second is stuck at a pitiful 7 transactions per second for BTC, and 15 for ETH. Programming languages don't have a mechanism where Ruby, PHP or Python have fea…
Increasing the hash power makes the blockchain more secure by raising the amount of work that has gone into it and making it harder to falsify. Also the “work” not being used to process transactions isn’t “why” the transaction rate is 7 tps, the tps is kept lower to keep blocksizes lower and allow more participation from the community since smaller blockchain are more accessible for download (for total verification)
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#277Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any arguments against bitcoin are shattered by one simple fact: currently bitcoin is the least risky and simultaneously the easiest way for russian citizens to fund anti-Putin opposition. Any first world do-gooder who wants to ban it because 'it is bad for environment' should first ban himself from existence because humans are bad for environment.
Seeing how well the ransomware industry is faring, it seems Putin doesn't feel too threatened yet. But what happens when he bans all exchanges that off-board cryptocurrencies to Ruble? Will the opposition be happy with tokens that are suddenly useless for day-to-day expenses?
The exchange I'm using is already banned. Didn't stop anyone.
The real threat is police baiting users of such exchanges into sending or receiving funds. But we're yet to see such activity from them.
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#278PoW mining (at least), must be made illegal. I have no doubts that it will end by becoming illegal, the question is how and when. It boggles the mind that there is now essentially a worldwide tax on semiconductors, which is used to do... nothing of any value whatsoever. And this thing just keeps growing. The effects will be felt in more and more economic sectors. Something will have to give. So, the only question is:…
There's lots of ways to turn electricity into money. Bitcoin is one of the easiest but you're not going to stop climate change or make a reasonably impact on the growing energy demands of civilization by banning it.
Better to focus on replacing all energy production with green sources and taxing polluters rather than trying to ban specific energy uses you don't like.
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#279Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What's scary is that the whole thing was designed to be unstoppable. It’s only unstoppable within the game theoretic model of crypto itself, not within the larger societal context. Once Bitcoin power consumption enters the common discourse, my guess is that politicians will step in and simply outlaw PoW systems. There is no real downside for politicians. The average voter hasn’t yet invested their life savings into…
Yes, it is a classic tragedy of the commons situation, and that is what politics - collective action - is good at fixing (at least sometimes).
Tragedy of the commons is often due to ineffective or free pricing of government regulated items. Parks look free and become an appealing place to make homeless encampments. The free market with enforceable property rights fixes this government problem.
If you don't like that people run computers to play games or wash laundry or watch videos or hash strings, re-pricing electricity fixes that. Germans are experiencing this experiment with increasing electricity prices right now.
Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
#280We are rapidly depleting our remaining carbon budget. Can a bitcoiner please explain to me why this is a necessary technological development right now?
I’d be willing to bet over the next five years we see the biggest most impactful developments for reforestation/carbon offsets/political lobbying for change/rewilding programs /etc will come from crypto groups, funded and organised by daos. It’s brewing already. I also think we’ll see bitcoin become a smaller part of crypto and pow being banned in some countries. It’s going to be an interesting decade.
According to this prediction market(https://www.metaculus.com/questions/5205/bitcoins-market-dom...) Bitcoin will lose its dominant position on Feb 13, 2025.