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So bitcoin, which still has almost no practical use for anyone in the real world, consumes as much energy as a country with a GDP of $98B and population of $16M
by gooseus 9y ago
So bitcoin, which still has almost no practical use for anyone in the real world, consumes as much energy as a country with a GDP of $98B and population of $16M.
It used to be that this was acceptable because bitcoin was going to solve our inequality problems and make money more egalitarian and all internet transactions smoother (or something). Yet, with a price of $7K per coin I still struggle to find anyone I know who has ever made a real purchase with it.
So what exactly are we getting from this energy demand? Does there exist a pie chart for where all the miners source their energy and maybe a metric for tons of CO2 per coin/transaction?
- QAPereo 9y agoSome people think they’ll be rich, that’s enough for them, and they either don’t care about, or rationalize away the rest.
- equalunique 9y agoI have purchased hotel rooms and computer parts with Bitcoin.
- loceng 9y agoAnd realize these energy costs can only be afforded because of the speculation that these crypto-assets will gain mass legitimacy, and therefore cause a (unreasonable) wealth distribution weighted towards the earliest adopters - along with the increased perceived value of the crypto-assets.
- molloy 9y agoYou can spend fractions of a Bitcoin, so it doesn't matter what the price of a full one is. ~15,000 satoshis (a satoshi is the lowest it can be split, 1/100,000,000 BTC) is currently equivalent to 1USD.