4 ms·

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that a system of CA certificate encryption has been around forever, and Bitcoin is burning electricity for lit

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that a system of CA certificate encryption has been around forever, and Bitcoin is burning electricity for literally no reason?

WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
> Bitcoin is burning electricity for literally no reason? reply I'd argue it's for a good reason the same way we burn gasoline at a traffic light instead of just going when it's red. Safety costs money, and Bitcoin burning electricity protects the network.
- geofft 5y ago
  And in a perfect analogy to cryptocurrencies, newer, better technologies like hybrid engines (not to mention purely electric vehicles) support shutting off the engine completely at a traffic light and not burning energy idling an engine, and older technologies like bicycles and horses never had this problem in the first place, but people pretend that "safety costs money" is a rule of nature nonetheless.
  - decafninja 5y ago
    Seems many (most? all?) modern cars have the idle engine shutoff feature. My 2016 car had the option to permanently disable it with a switch. My 2018 car no longer has that option - only the option to disable it for the current trip. And according to the salesman, all new cars are like that?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - nradov 5y ago
      Not all new cars, but many.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > I'd argue it's for a good reason the same way we burn gasoline at a traffic light Burning gas at a traffic light isn't for a “good reason”, except insofar as the dominance of environmentally hostile technology through the de facto subsidy of externalized costs is a “good reason”. But I don’t disagree that the analogy being drawn between that pollution and bitcoin is apt.
  - WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
    > I don’t disagree that the analogy being drawn between that pollution and bitcoin is apt. Okay, how about the pollution from SSL on the web? Every device has to have dedicated crypto hardware and we spend CPU cycles on it... because we want secure transactions.
SamReidHughes 5y ago
Everybody who's buying that electricity has a reason, and everybody sending those people money has a reason, and so on down the chain.
- frzj 5y ago
  The reason being the fear of missing out on getting more fiat money back than they paid for. If you buy ETFs you at least indirectly incentivize firms who produce usefull stuff like medicine, food, shelter, insurance or trading (not by itslf useful but it serves an important role in our economy). Now that I think about it, maybe you are onto something. Even if crypto is just a fad it was an important signal for governments and the markets.
  - SamReidHughes 5y ago
    I can add another reason: Because I want to.
antonvs 5y ago
How would a PKI prevent double spending in a distributed network? If you could solve that problem well without burning the electricity Bitcoin does, you'd revolutionize industries.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the fact that a system of CA certificate encryption has been around forever, and Bitcoin is burning electricity for literally no reason?

WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago

> Bitcoin is burning electricity for literally no reason? reply I'd argue it's for a good reason the same way we burn gasoline at a traffic light instead of just going when it's red. Safety costs money, and Bitcoin burning electricity protects the network.

geofft 5y ago
And in a perfect analogy to cryptocurrencies, newer, better technologies like hybrid engines (not to mention purely electric vehicles) support shutting off the engine completely at a traffic light and not burning energy idling an engine, and older technologies like bicycles and horses never had this problem in the first place, but people pretend that "safety costs money" is a rule of nature nonetheless.
- decafninja 5y ago
  Seems many (most? all?) modern cars have the idle engine shutoff feature. My 2016 car had the option to permanently disable it with a switch. My 2018 car no longer has that option - only the option to disable it for the current trip. And according to the salesman, all new cars are like that?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - nradov 5y ago
    Not all new cars, but many.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> I'd argue it's for a good reason the same way we burn gasoline at a traffic light Burning gas at a traffic light isn't for a “good reason”, except insofar as the dominance of environmentally hostile technology through the de facto subsidy of externalized costs is a “good reason”. But I don’t disagree that the analogy being drawn between that pollution and bitcoin is apt.
- WrtCdEvrydy 5y ago
  > I don’t disagree that the analogy being drawn between that pollution and bitcoin is apt. Okay, how about the pollution from SSL on the web? Every device has to have dedicated crypto hardware and we spend CPU cycles on it... because we want secure transactions.

SamReidHughes 5y ago

Everybody who's buying that electricity has a reason, and everybody sending those people money has a reason, and so on down the chain.

frzj 5y ago
The reason being the fear of missing out on getting more fiat money back than they paid for. If you buy ETFs you at least indirectly incentivize firms who produce usefull stuff like medicine, food, shelter, insurance or trading (not by itslf useful but it serves an important role in our economy). Now that I think about it, maybe you are onto something. Even if crypto is just a fad it was an important signal for governments and the markets.
- SamReidHughes 5y ago
  I can add another reason: Because I want to.

antonvs 5y ago

How would a PKI prevent double spending in a distributed network? If you could solve that problem well without burning the electricity Bitcoin does, you'd revolutionize industries.