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Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

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Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#441

Post by hagbard_c »

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #425
hagbard_c wrote: post #312

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not using any currency which depends on an internet connection anyway since that makes it rather easy for the government to deprive those rebels of their funding - just block the 'net and jam satellite-borne access methods. I'd fund my guerillas with armaments, food and medical supplies. Gold and silver maybe. No digital currencies for the stated reasons.

And how do much armaments do you have on hand and how do you plan to deliver it to your guerillas?

None, yet, for lack of a cause as well as a guerilla army to fight for it. Should I ever get the urge to find a cause and an army I know I'll go long on tools of war and short on digital currencies. As stated, an SD card full of hitcoins will hit no harder than a card without such a load, i.e. not at all. Any digital currency which relies on an internet connection suffers from this problem.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#442

Post by Chyzwar »

olalonde wrote: post #380
Chyzwar wrote: post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But at what cost? I'd argue that the costs outweigh the benefits. It hinders competition and innovation, makes it hard or impossible for some people and businesses to access the banking system, increases fees on consumers due to the immense cost of compliance (>$180bn a year worldwide), puts innocent people behind bars ("guilty until proven innocent" is the typical standard with AML), is a privacy nightmare, puts p…

All of that is great but it has nothing to do with AML/KYC regulations.

AML/KYC are absolutely part of the reason banking system is so safe and why criminals use crypto instead.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#443

Post by grlthng »

it_citizen wrote: post #237
zionic wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Wouldn’t we be giving up an essential lever to adjust to changing economical conditions? Who’s we? You, I, and most people have zero ability to move those levers. The question is should they have access to those levers and I firmly believe the answer is no. I’d rather have a world with sound money and no one in control than the people who have dominated the west for the last 100+ years.

We as “citizen of a nation”? If nations no longer control their money, does it mean they can go bankrupt? They can no longer adjust their money to influence their commercial balance? Would have the EU and the US been able to create stimulus packages? What about adjusting the inflation to the economic growth rate of a country? (Genuinely asking)

> If nations no longer control their money, does it mean they can go bankrupt?

Yes, happens all the time where countries default on their debt obligations even when they "control" their money.

> Would have the EU and the US been able to create stimulus packages?

Yes its called taxation, and maintaining a reserve. Just like how normal people save up for a rainy day. They can even borrow money (bonds) from the public like they've done for hundreds of years.

> What about adjusting the inflation to the economic growth rate of a country?

The vast majority of failed monetary systems in the last hundred years is due to central banks printing too much money. So maybe we should stop letting the central banks attempt to control something they barely understand?

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#444

Post by grlthng »

alkonaut wrote: post #226
hihihihi1234 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People don't have faith in the mainstream financial system and are fleeing for the exits.

And I don’t mind. So long as they don’t flush the climate down the toilet or affect the mainstream system in any way such as by reducing tax revenue.

You'd have to be blind to not see that the "mainstream system" is the one flushing the climate down the toilet.

Bitcoin is just a byproduct of the "mainstream system". It was created by it. It's like the waste product that comes out when refining toxic ancient sludge into oil. And Bitcoin will never go away until the "main stream system" itself dies.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#445

Post by grlthng »

otterley wrote: post #398
ls15 wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It amazes me, how many people seem not to see this point

Because it's not actually happening, if you look at the amount of money invested in cryptocurrencies and their transaction volume for goods and services compared to fiat currencies.

A low velocity financial instrument is still useful if it stores value, even if it has no other utility. Gold locked in a vault, rolex watch that is stored in a safe, stock whose voting rights are not utilized, a house that nobody lives in, pokemon cards that isn't used in a card game.

The list is endless and I guess if you're really asset poor you wouldn't see a value in these things.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#446

Post by grlthng »

scottiebarnes wrote: post #367
arcticbull wrote: post #366

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As imtringued also pointed out to you, the central bank in no uncertain terms cannot create money. QE is not carried out by creating money. It's carried out by creating bank reserves and exchanging them for assets at primary dealers, increasing liquidity. That article you linked elides a number of key intermediate steps. QE indirectly increases the money supply as I explained to you. Not directly as you seem to conti…

Are we hiding behind linguistic semantics? If the fed wants to buy $100b of assets tomorrow, it can do so, despite not having that money. The interbank mechanics are unimportant, the point is the value is created at will, creating inflation, and is a decision of a few powerful individuals.

He's just incredibly confused because central banks officials avoid saying the word "money printing" or "creating money" so that the public doesn't panic or accuse them of creating something out of nothing. Instead they use technical words like "Quantitative Easing" and "Asset Purchases" and then dumbasses like him buy into the wordplay whole heartedly.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#447

Post by grlthng »

gime_tree_fiddy wrote: post #58

A slightly tangential question, in regards to Bitcoin and Blockchain, that I (surprisingly?) haven't seen answered/asked: Blockchain is computationally intensive, but why does it has to be used for Bitcoin. There could be another solution, which achieves all its objectives, but isn't necessarily as convoluted. What am I missing? Why not just use SQL databases?

Because its easy to take down an SQL database. You'd have to expend 68 TWh of energy to take Bitcoin down.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#448

Post by grlthng »

Andrew_nenakhov wrote: post #274
alkonaut wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?!

He expects you to mail them a batch of dollars with Fedex of course , lol.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#449

Post by grlthng »

davewritescode wrote: post #221
xiphias2 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, if you are serious, the Bitcoin Standard book is a worthy read. But what’s important is that Bitcoin solves the inflation problem, and proof of work is the only system that we have for getting rid of the Cantillon effect of modern banking: the closer people get to the top of the central banks, the richer they get and destroy life for those who don’t have access to the inner layers of central banking. With Bitco…

On a philosophical level, I think the flawed premise you’re presenting here is that inflation is a problem that needs to be solved. Inflation is unpopular because it’s effectively a tax on unproductive wealth. Inflation incentivizes investment because idle wealth will lose it’s value at the rate of inflation. On a technical level, Bitcoin is worse than a currency because it’s value can fluctuate wildly constantly and…

> Inflation incentivizes investment

Inflation induces investment and consumption. Ultimately, central bank wants to create GDP growth through inflation because any GDP growth is good, that's the basic dogma.

Since we're talking about climate change, it's clearly morally wrong for the central bank to print money to create arbitrary GDP growth because GDP growth creates emissions and furthers climate change. It's a deathtrap really, and the most sinister mechanism ever created. We should probably ban it along with Bitcoin.

Re: Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021

#450

Post by otterley »

grlthng wrote: post #445
otterley wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's not actually happening, if you look at the amount of money invested in cryptocurrencies and their transaction volume for goods and services compared to fiat currencies.

A low velocity financial instrument is still useful if it stores value, even if it has no other utility. Gold locked in a vault, rolex watch that is stored in a safe, stock whose voting rights are not utilized, a house that nobody lives in, pokemon cards that isn't used in a card game. The list is endless and I guess if you're really asset poor you wouldn't see a value in these things.

The comment I was responding to was "People ... are fleeing for the exits," which is clearly not the case. The picture given is a stampede, where what's really happening is a few people going to the ATM and placing chips at a roulette wheel.
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