The only word I can think of is shameful. We should be ashamed. Digital currency with strong cryptographic protection will continue to evolve and will eventually be widely adopted, but the industry and platforms that have arisen concomitant with the Bitcoin hype are simply shameful.
Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
41–50 of 499 posts
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#42The crypto industry financed a 2.3% expansion of the US's power generating capacity. I don't care what we're spending energy on. Being stingy about it just makes all of us poorer. There's a quadrillion-cubic-kilometer flaming ball of plasma in the sky. We have the ability to generate literally infinite electricity; and quite literally the only way we get to that is by increasing the amount of electricity we're using,…
Does it work like that? Why do utilities encourage customers to become more efficient when they could sell more power and make more money instead?
And even if it's true, an expansion of generation capacity is only useful if it's eventually freed up for non-crypto uses, right? Otherwise it's just a wash.
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah those companies generally use that energy to produce things of value to people
A global, decentralized, censorship-resistant monetary asset is not of value to people?
No. It's not. Censorship-resistant is just another word for fraud- and crime enabling. It's a negative attribute, not a positive one.
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#44Look how many company are using most of the crude oil. They're allowed to buy this commodity and they profit from using it, what did you expect would happen?
Yeah those companies generally use that energy to produce things of value to people
The cryptocurrency has value! Maybe we agree that it's shitty, but its value is abundantly clear. It has a price and a nonzero trading volume. An economy that prioritized at human wellbeing or moral value (and had the might to impose it) might be nice, but it's a far cry from the current reality of market forces determining what gets produced.
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#45Why is crypto still a thing ? I may be dumb but just don't get it.
Crypto literally cannot be stopped, turned off, banned, or otherwise censored. That is its entire purpose and design.
Whether that is good or bad is a different question.
(Yes, crypto can be regulated. Of course it can. The point is that it will continue to exist irrespective of regulation.)
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah those companies generally use that energy to produce things of value to people
A global, decentralized, censorship-resistant monetary asset is not of value to people?
Idk if this is serious or not, but no, I, nor anyone I have met, has had a need to send money that the court system couldn't reverse.
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#47Meanwhile we have this.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/miltonezrati/2023/03/24/america...
....all for a casino ponzi scheme that is creating a very volatile "asset". I'm all for free market, but electricity production in the US is highly regulated and very far from being free market.
Also, I'm not an environmentalist, but one of the things that has hurt electric car adoption has been the cost of charging, especially at DC fast chargers. Getting rid of this waste would reduce strain on the grid and help to drive down electric costs which could alleviate that problem.
It's surprising that environmental protestors have not started to show up at mining faculties.
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#48The crypto industry financed a 2.3% expansion of the US's power generating capacity. I don't care what we're spending energy on. Being stingy about it just makes all of us poorer. There's a quadrillion-cubic-kilometer flaming ball of plasma in the sky. We have the ability to generate literally infinite electricity; and quite literally the only way we get to that is by increasing the amount of electricity we're using,…
Well, I don't want to make us all poorer, so I better start running the air conditioner and the heater with the windows open.
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#49So what? Surely they are paying for it.
Re: Just 137 crypto miners use 2.3% of total U.S. power
#50Never thought a site called "Hacker News" would be so anti-technology as I'm seeing in these comments. Use the energy. We'll start making more of it and cheaper. Everyone benefits.