> The defense from Bitcoiners is that this is still “good” overall: This is energy that would otherwise be wasted, and the share of renewables will grow. This

> The defense from Bitcoiners is that this is still “good” overall: This is energy that would otherwise be wasted, and the share of renewables will grow. This could be true, depending on the balance of mining rewards, the price of Bitcoin, and difficulty. There is wasted energy out there being used to mine Bitcoin, and if it becomes the only profitable way to mine it, then that's all that will be used to mine it. Right now, it doesn't seem to be the case.