5 ms·

What's fascinating to me about bitcoin is how much it shortens the chain of transmutation between electricity and money. A typical situation might involve a bu

What's fascinating to me about bitcoin is how much it shortens the chain of transmutation between electricity and money. A typical situation might involve a business or manufacturer taking power, raw materials, and labor to create something of value and sell it. With bitcoin, anyone with sufficient capital can simply exploit natural resources and turn it directly into money. It's a capitalist dream: remove nearly all labor from the equation leaving only capital and land (land in the Georgist sense being natural resource like coal, oil, land, water, etc). I think in this way it exposes market failures faster than anything else since the efficiency of capital-infused actors is so high...

Nursie 5y ago
It certainly reinforces that externalities are not priced in to the current energy markets!
quadrifoliate 5y ago
(moved to the other thread at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27749247 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27749247)
- brabel 5y ago
  > Bitcoin is driving people towards more environmental awareness. WHAT? What makes you think Bitcoin is driving anything other than speculation and greed?
  - quadrifoliate 5y ago
    That was not well phrased, I apologize. The sentence should have been "These absurd scenarios involving Bitcoin are driving people towards more environmental awareness". Pretty much all the mentions of Bitcoin I have heard within my social circle have been about the environmental impact. People think it's absurd that we are literally converting energy into money! Does it sound more plausible / correct with that phrasing?
    - amelius 5y ago
      > These absurd scenarios involving Bitcoin are driving people towards more environmental awareness It is better to turn it around: Those with environmental awareness are shocked by the absurdity of Bitcoin.
      - 411111111111111 5y ago
        And there are a lot of people around which don't "believe" in climate change.
  - Huwyt_Nashi051 5y ago
    Profit. The cheaper your electricity, the higher your margins. The greenies won't care to admit it but Bitcoin has finally provided the motivation to pursue cheap, efficient, reliable renewable energy where all they've ever had to offer was financially-punishing "save the planet" vibes. Depending on the source, 50% (+-20%) of crypto mining is already powered renewably.
  - Huwyt_Nashi052 5y ago
    Profit. The cheaper your electricity, the higher your margins. The greenies won't care to admit it but Bitcoin has finally provided the motivation to pursue cheap, efficient, reliable renewable energy where all they've ever had to offer was financially-punishing "save the planet" vibes. Depending on the source, 50% (+-20%) of crypto mining is already powered renewably.
    - matheusmoreira 5y ago
      Absolutely. I have solar energy and I mine XMR with it. It's nice and clean. My country has an obnoxious "incentive" structure where the power companies aren't actually required to pay me for the energy I generate. They give me "kWh credits" which expire if unused for over one year. So I have no reason to generate more energy than I need. Cryptocurrency changed everything. It allowed me to sink my surplus energy production into proof-of-work. I get paid for it and get to support an amazing project like Monero.
    - rspeele 5y ago
      > The cheaper your electricity, the higher your margins. Isn't that true for every user of electricity?
  - ohhhhhh 5y ago
    Theres a literal incentive for bitcoin miners to find the cheapest use of energy possible. Literally pushing the technology to find efficiencies
amelius 5y ago
> It's a capitalist dream Except it gets more difficult the more you (and others) mine.

Nursie 5y ago

It certainly reinforces that externalities are not priced in to the current energy markets!

quadrifoliate 5y ago

(moved to the other thread at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27749247 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27749247)

brabel 5y ago
> Bitcoin is driving people towards more environmental awareness. WHAT? What makes you think Bitcoin is driving anything other than speculation and greed?
- quadrifoliate 5y ago
  That was not well phrased, I apologize. The sentence should have been "These absurd scenarios involving Bitcoin are driving people towards more environmental awareness". Pretty much all the mentions of Bitcoin I have heard within my social circle have been about the environmental impact. People think it's absurd that we are literally converting energy into money! Does it sound more plausible / correct with that phrasing?
  - amelius 5y ago
    > These absurd scenarios involving Bitcoin are driving people towards more environmental awareness It is better to turn it around: Those with environmental awareness are shocked by the absurdity of Bitcoin.
    - 411111111111111 5y ago
      And there are a lot of people around which don't "believe" in climate change.
- Huwyt_Nashi051 5y ago
  Profit. The cheaper your electricity, the higher your margins. The greenies won't care to admit it but Bitcoin has finally provided the motivation to pursue cheap, efficient, reliable renewable energy where all they've ever had to offer was financially-punishing "save the planet" vibes. Depending on the source, 50% (+-20%) of crypto mining is already powered renewably.
- Huwyt_Nashi052 5y ago
  Profit. The cheaper your electricity, the higher your margins. The greenies won't care to admit it but Bitcoin has finally provided the motivation to pursue cheap, efficient, reliable renewable energy where all they've ever had to offer was financially-punishing "save the planet" vibes. Depending on the source, 50% (+-20%) of crypto mining is already powered renewably.
  - matheusmoreira 5y ago
    Absolutely. I have solar energy and I mine XMR with it. It's nice and clean. My country has an obnoxious "incentive" structure where the power companies aren't actually required to pay me for the energy I generate. They give me "kWh credits" which expire if unused for over one year. So I have no reason to generate more energy than I need. Cryptocurrency changed everything. It allowed me to sink my surplus energy production into proof-of-work. I get paid for it and get to support an amazing project like Monero.
  - rspeele 5y ago
    > The cheaper your electricity, the higher your margins. Isn't that true for every user of electricity?
- ohhhhhh 5y ago
  Theres a literal incentive for bitcoin miners to find the cheapest use of energy possible. Literally pushing the technology to find efficiencies

amelius 5y ago

> It's a capitalist dream Except it gets more difficult the more you (and others) mine.