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> In my humble opinion, burning fossil fuels to create electricity to “mine” this “currency” is unethical because it literally has no net gain to society, not e
by lawn 9y ago
> In my humble opinion, burning fossil fuels to create electricity to “mine” this “currency” is unethical because it literally has no net gain to society, not even entertainment.
A true peer-to-peer digital currency enabling you to make payments globally without a third party being able to censor has very real benefits.
For example:
* Donations to wikileaks or similar organizations
* Payments in gray areas, for example porn
* Transfers to and from inaccessible areas, for example war zones or dictatorships
It might be inefficient but the concept isn't completely useless. So far alternatives without mining are being researched but are lacking in various ways.
- ryanmarsh 9y agoWe say it is inefficient but I've not seen a detailed study on the origin and amount of electricity used for Bitcoin mining vs. the origin and amount used to keep a similar portion (by transaction volume) of the VISA network (not just the main clearing house) running. I hear much of the electricity is hydro power in China. Lastly, Bitcoin isn't finished yet. I was dialing up to the internet on a 56kbps modem just 20 years ago. I can't imagine where crypto currencies will be in 20 years.