5 ms·
That is 215 kwh of energy for one transaction. Nope. The marginal cost of a transaction is next to nothing. Just take a step back and think about what you're s
by krona 6y ago
That is 215 kwh of energy for one transaction.
Nope. The marginal cost of a transaction is next to nothing. Just take a step back and think about what you're saying: that a bitcoin transaction would cost £3.40 in the UK. Obviously nobody would be using bitcoin if that were true.
Proof of work is where the value of the coin is derived. How much energy do you think it takes to mint a physical coin? Now compare that to the amount of energy it takes to transfer it to a shop assistant.
- lambdaba 6y agoExactly. Ensuring that no party can unilaterally issue new coins is the value proposition of Bitcoin.
- gthrowaway52 6y ago> Just take a step back and think about what you're saying: that a bitcoin transaction would cost £3.40 in the UK I hope I'm not misinterpreting your point, but bitcoin transactions cost even more than that. https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_average_transaction_fee https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_average_transaction_f... Users have to bid for space on the blockchain to store transactions. Early on the space was cheap and miners got their profits from the # of bitcoins they mined. As that dries up the incentive to mine shifts toward transaction fees. The electricity costs right now are unclear to users because of indirection. Mining dilutes the value of bitcoins each user holds but they do not see a loss in their wallet. I wonder if once confronted with even greater transaction fees over time whether users will be willing to continue to pay up to use it. One has to cross their fingers that the demand stays high enough to sustain enough mining to prevent the from being taken over with 51% attack.