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When I actually held bitcoins back in 2012 I always made the comparison to the amount of energy needed to transport physical bills in armored cars, hire securit

When I actually held bitcoins back in 2012 I always made the comparison to the amount of energy needed to transport physical bills in armored cars, hire security guards, build giant vaults, printing presses, etc. Back then it seemed a reasonable comparison to make, but then the actual power consumption numbers seem very small back then by comparison. I also remember Satoshi saying in the white paper that people in temperate climates might would be the miners because the excess heat could be used to heat homes in the winter. Again I don't see the sort of environmental responsibility currently.

Hamuko 6y ago
I somehow don't see myself buying a $4000 ASIC to mine Bitcoin in my home and paying like 280€ per month in electricity for it even though it was -20°C Friday.
TeMPOraL 6y ago
> When I actually held bitcoins back in 2012 I always made the comparison to the amount of energy needed to transport physical bills in armored cars, hire security guards, build giant vaults, printing presses, etc. Back then it seemed a reasonable comparison to make When I saw such comparisons, I always countered with two points: - One, energy expenditure on Bitcoin network grows superlinearly; - Two, all the expenditure for trucks, vaults, presses, etc. and management for it is considered upkeep. It takes money from the pockets of people who would prefer to keep it. So these costs are ruthlessly optimized down to minimum. If printing or transporting bills could be made free, financial institutions would jump at it. Meanwhile, in Bitcoin, burning energy is a core part of securing the network, and it's being periodically adjusted towards more waste. If mining could be made free, the network would collapse. These points paint a quite different trajectory over time for Bitcoin's energy use vs. fiat energy use. And it seems to pan out.
DemocracyFTW 6y ago
> I don't see the sort of environmental responsibility curren<strike>tly</strike>cy fixed that for ya. The good thing about heating your home in the winter with excess thermal energy caused by cryptomining is that in summer you can either stuff all that heat into bags and save it for winter, sell it in town to people who have a sauna at home, or send it to the opposite hemisphere where people are freezing. /s

Hamuko 6y ago

I somehow don't see myself buying a $4000 ASIC to mine Bitcoin in my home and paying like 280€ per month in electricity for it even though it was -20°C Friday.

TeMPOraL 6y ago

> When I actually held bitcoins back in 2012 I always made the comparison to the amount of energy needed to transport physical bills in armored cars, hire security guards, build giant vaults, printing presses, etc. Back then it seemed a reasonable comparison to make When I saw such comparisons, I always countered with two points: - One, energy expenditure on Bitcoin network grows superlinearly; - Two, all the expenditure for trucks, vaults, presses, etc. and management for it is considered upkeep. It takes money from the pockets of people who would prefer to keep it. So these costs are ruthlessly optimized down to minimum. If printing or transporting bills could be made free, financial institutions would jump at it. Meanwhile, in Bitcoin, burning energy is a core part of securing the network, and it's being periodically adjusted towards more waste. If mining could be made free, the network would collapse. These points paint a quite different trajectory over time for Bitcoin's energy use vs. fiat energy use. And it seems to pan out.

DemocracyFTW 6y ago

> I don't see the sort of environmental responsibility curren<strike>tly</strike>cy fixed that for ya. The good thing about heating your home in the winter with excess thermal energy caused by cryptomining is that in summer you can either stuff all that heat into bags and save it for winter, sell it in town to people who have a sauna at home, or send it to the opposite hemisphere where people are freezing. /s