I'd say that the cryptography and computer science field as a whole have tremendously benefitted from cryptocurrency indirectly. It has led to numerous new cryp

I'd say that the cryptography and computer science field as a whole have tremendously benefitted from cryptocurrency indirectly. It has led to numerous new cryptographic protocols that are being used outside of blockchain. POW is an effective tool being used by websites to fight DDOS attacks and spam. Zero knowledge proofs that were originally designed for Proof of stake are being used for credit cards. Internet security is being reworked from scratch to address the many security issues that blockchain has uncovered. It's been hugely beneficial for science from a theoretical and academic POV. Just like space exploration has no obvious benefits but fertilizes the field of engineering with new technology, cryptocurrency is currently doing the same to Computer Science. And E-waste is a huge problem in general, it's not specific to bitcoin. Online gaming with powerful GPUs has zero benefit to society and also generates lots of useless energy consumption and e-waste. Why don't we brick all of the playstations instead of a whole financial ecosystem?