You are correct, but for the wrong reason. Bitcoin's energy consumption[1] does not track with the number of transactions[2]; energy consumption has significan

You are correct, but for the wrong reason. Bitcoin's energy consumption[1] does not track with the number of transactions[2]; energy consumption has significantly increased while the number of transactions has not. What the energy consumption does track is the price[3]: mining creates coins, so higher price means more mining. The current ~4% inflation rate will not significantly decrease incentives for decades. In a sane world, the energy use and price would be tied to the actual usefulness of the currency. They are not. In roughly 100 years the energy use will be set by transaction fees and the number of transactions, but currently it's only proportional to speculative will. When transaction fees incentivize mining, the incentive to mine will certainly be much lower. Arguably more secure, too- the block reward creates a separate incentive for large players to dominate mining, which lowers the diversity of miners. It's not at all clear that the absolute energy consumption will be lower than it currently is. [1]: https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption/ https://digiconomist.net/bitcoin-energy-consumption/ [2]: https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_transactions_per_day https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_transactions_per_day [3]: https://www.coindesk.com/price/bitcoin https://www.coindesk.com/price/bitcoin