> We could be using the compute equivalent of the nation of Colombia to collectively simulate cancer drug molecules, or provide free resources to startups in th

> We could be using the compute equivalent of the nation of Colombia to collectively simulate cancer drug molecules, or provide free resources to startups in the third world or just about anything that is more difficult than sending money from A to B Get off HN and do it! what's stopping you?? > which we figured out how to do with much less resources decades ago. I think even buying a carrier pigeon might be more energy efficient (and possibly less prone to hacking) than cryptocurrency. Sorry, you don't understand Bitcoin, you should do some research before making such shallow, reductionist arguments. "Stone is better, why do you need metal? it's so much work to make metal implements" "We have horses, why do you need cars that pollute the air??" "Why do you need a smart phone, I have a desktop computer to do all that" "Why do you need the internet?, we've already figured out how to send messages to each other via mail" Stop acting like this is a zero sum game.