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I find the last section of this article particularly ironic considering cryptocurrency is one of the biggest steps back for technological efficiency I've seen i
by AlexandrB 4y ago
I find the last section of this article particularly ironic considering cryptocurrency is one of the biggest steps back for technological efficiency I've seen in my lifetime. No, credit card fees have not improved in 30 years, but at least the energy required to process those transactions hasn't increased by orders of magnitude in the same time period.
- danuker 4y agoSo what? If the pollution is the problem, government should tax the externalities through a Pigovian tax. In the EU we have a functioning carbon cap, and as such mining is less profitable here. https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/emissions-cap-and-allowances_en https://ec.europa.eu/clima/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-sy... But the US will hear none of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MondapIjAAM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MondapIjAAM
- AlexandrB 4y agoI think you pointed out the problem yourself. Bitcoin and pollution don't care about borders, unless you get every country in the world to pass such a tax the miners will just move to wherever they can get away with not paying it.
- danuker 4y agoI agree. But lawmakers would have a double standard if they imposed such a tax, but only on Bitcoin miners.
- cesarb 4y ago> No, credit card fees have not improved in 30 years, A quick web search tells me that the law which capped credit card fees at 0.3% is from 2015. That's less than 10 years ago.