> It seems like a completely ignored aspect of cryptocurrency. I don't think it's ignored at all. It's covered in Bitcoin's FAQ because it comes up pretty oft

> It seems like a completely ignored aspect of cryptocurrency. I don't think it's ignored at all. It's covered in Bitcoin's FAQ because it comes up pretty often. Also some folks have tried to create coins that use something other than a PoW. Some have created coins whose PoW has independent utility (XPM: cunningham chains of primes). > raw materials that go into all these GPUs Well, thank goodness the GPUs have independent utility. If you want to be concerned about waste, the ASICs are generally much less useful after difficulty increases than GPUs. > seriously perverse. shrug people every day "waste" global resources on things that I think are totally worthless. You might see bitcoin and friends as similarly worthless but if absolutely nothing else it does seem like it has real utility for making remittances more affordable.