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Also, lets say in the near(-ish) future we get "unlimited", very, very cheap energy. Something like fusion power. Wouldn't that mean the Bitcoin network would i

• rcxdude 6y ago
  Indeed, the design of bitcoin assumes energy is limited. Either it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy (though if bitcoin starts approaching half of humanity's energy production I expect it will get shut down hard by governments), or bitcoin breaks when it becomes sufficiently available. Though there is also another factor which limits mining: the availability of hardware. This cost is not negligible in mining profits, and in fact is one of the reasons the idea of miners using excess green power is a myth: mining hardware generally needs to be run close 100% of the time to make a profit.
  • monopoledance 6y ago
    > Though there is also another factor which limits mining That's what I meant when I wrote, mining may be limited by another resource limit. I dread a future, where technological progression is halted or slowed, because people need to dig into landfills searching for rare elements bound to overproduced electronics. Look at all the compute thrown at heat generation instead of solving protein folding problems for all of humanity. What could be done with terawatts of electrical energy? I think prolonging the usage of Bitcoin isn't stupid, but downright offensive. Your freedom ends, where my future begins.