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Most mining has already shifted out of China, and Bitcoin mining is a very small percentage of electricity usage on the scale of "all electricity usage" - there

Most mining has already shifted out of China, and Bitcoin mining is a very small percentage of electricity usage on the scale of "all electricity usage" - there are plenty of bigger fish (the argument then turns, validly, to the usefulness of said bigger fish in comparison to bitcoin).

deleted 5y ago
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rsynnott 5y ago
> there are plenty of bigger fish Sure, but in most cases people would, at best, be seriously inconvenienced if they were immediately banned. At worst, people would die. If bitcoin was banned worldwide tomorrow, it would be an interesting story in the news and the internet would be furious for a while; there would be no significant real-life impact. It would probably be the most slam-dunk "obviously we should do this" environmental regulation in history; even things like "we should not put mercury in lakes" had significant downsides compared to banning bitcoin.
- user-the-name 5y ago
  Of course, there would be plenty of positive impact in the mid to long term. More capacity for semiconductor production available would help with semiconductor shortages, ransomware would become pretty much unprofitable, and of course a huge drop in environmental destruction.
cma 5y ago
> to the usefulness of said bigger fish in comparison to bitcoin So far bitcoin has negative utility even aside from environmental disaster (ransomware).
dangerface 5y ago
Here come the comments of people who see no value in crypto calming it has no value. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. A few years ago people laughed at me for buying bitcoin, it's good to see bitcoin adoption moving along nicely.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Not so much. That sounds like like The Power of Positive Thinking-style BS (crypto is full of it). Usually when "they" fight "you," they win, but losers are usually forgotten and an accurate statement wouldn't make a very good motivational slogan.

deleted 5y ago

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rsynnott 5y ago

> there are plenty of bigger fish Sure, but in most cases people would, at best, be seriously inconvenienced if they were immediately banned. At worst, people would die. If bitcoin was banned worldwide tomorrow, it would be an interesting story in the news and the internet would be furious for a while; there would be no significant real-life impact. It would probably be the most slam-dunk "obviously we should do this" environmental regulation in history; even things like "we should not put mercury in lakes" had significant downsides compared to banning bitcoin.

user-the-name 5y ago
Of course, there would be plenty of positive impact in the mid to long term. More capacity for semiconductor production available would help with semiconductor shortages, ransomware would become pretty much unprofitable, and of course a huge drop in environmental destruction.

cma 5y ago

> to the usefulness of said bigger fish in comparison to bitcoin So far bitcoin has negative utility even aside from environmental disaster (ransomware).

dangerface 5y ago

Here come the comments of people who see no value in crypto calming it has no value. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. A few years ago people laughed at me for buying bitcoin, it's good to see bitcoin adoption moving along nicely.

tablespoon 5y ago
> First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Not so much. That sounds like like The Power of Positive Thinking-style BS (crypto is full of it). Usually when "they" fight "you," they win, but losers are usually forgotten and an accurate statement wouldn't make a very good motivational slogan.