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Bitcoin is a ridiculous waste of energy. Can we please have more regulation of this waste? What is the real benefit of Bitcoin? It can't even be used to pay for

Bitcoin is a ridiculous waste of energy. Can we please have more regulation of this waste? What is the real benefit of Bitcoin? It can't even be used to pay for anything. Gold sits somewhere and can be used for manufacturing. Storage of gold uses almost no energy whatsoever. Maybe to protect and produce a safe and hire people to watch it if its a large stockpile. Extraction is also difficult and energy intensive. Best way would be to move beyond move gold and Bitcoin. Bitcoin just continues to waste more and more energy without being used for anything. Storing it and seeing if coins are actually real is too energy intensive. Bitcoin is irresponsible and a waste. Gotta be a better way to use and create cryptocurrencies for the environment and to avoid exuberant transaction costs.

mythrwy 8y ago
Yes but extracting bitcoin need not leave large holes in the ground nor create heavy metal runoff in the water supply. Can always use more efficient power sources to mitigate some of the effects. And, there is incentive to do so. But agree on better ways to create cryptocurrencies. That seems a better solution.
solean 8y ago
You know what else is a huge waste of energy? Video games. They produce negative value. Should we regulate them? Should you even be allowed to play them?
- DFHippie 8y ago
  This argument comes down to "we can't regulate anything if we don't regulate everything". You could use the same argument to say everyone should have nuclear weapons if they're allowed to have toothpicks. It's a slippery slope! Given that we all accept some things should be regulated/disallowed, we can set aside the slippery slope argument and try to decide what the threshold for societal good or harm should be. Should you be allowed to dump CFCs into the atmosphere? How about lead in the drinking water? Can you defoliate the rain forest for your own amusement? Can you fire machine guns into the air over a city and let the bullets fall where they may? People disagree about where the threshold is, but they generally agree that there is some threshold.

mythrwy 8y ago

Yes but extracting bitcoin need not leave large holes in the ground nor create heavy metal runoff in the water supply. Can always use more efficient power sources to mitigate some of the effects. And, there is incentive to do so. But agree on better ways to create cryptocurrencies. That seems a better solution.

solean 8y ago

You know what else is a huge waste of energy? Video games. They produce negative value. Should we regulate them? Should you even be allowed to play them?

DFHippie 8y ago
This argument comes down to "we can't regulate anything if we don't regulate everything". You could use the same argument to say everyone should have nuclear weapons if they're allowed to have toothpicks. It's a slippery slope! Given that we all accept some things should be regulated/disallowed, we can set aside the slippery slope argument and try to decide what the threshold for societal good or harm should be. Should you be allowed to dump CFCs into the atmosphere? How about lead in the drinking water? Can you defoliate the rain forest for your own amusement? Can you fire machine guns into the air over a city and let the bullets fall where they may? People disagree about where the threshold is, but they generally agree that there is some threshold.