Users (who run full nodes, and everyone can run one!) actually make decisions in Bitcoin. There's no voting or democracy; everyone is free to run whatever versi

Users (who run full nodes, and everyone can run one!) actually make decisions in Bitcoin. There's no voting or democracy; everyone is free to run whatever version they want (or make their own version). When users run different versions (with different validation rules), it creates a fork in the blockchain. Miners are dumb and greedy; they just follow the most profitable fork. In practice, upgrades and forks are coordinated in order to minimize disruptions. In the end it's like any software; everyone can run whatever version they want. When open-source software is combined with monetary policy, it gets little bit more interesting. No user is willing to run a version of monetary policy that makes their money worse, thus it's guaranteed to be the best form of money, now and forever. Energy use is the cost that has to be paid for predictably sound money and global monetary network that is open to everyone. If 0.1% of world's energy goes into securing it peacefully, then it's a very low price to pay.