3 ms·

I don't think energy consumption was ever actually a virtue of the people who complained about it. It was just a means to an end for curbing crypto and it's gri

by kodah 4y ago

I don't think energy consumption was ever actually a virtue of the people who complained about it. It was just a means to an end for curbing crypto and it's grifts.

jjtheblunt 4y ago
Yeah it was: the energy cost (as in electric bill) to settle transactions is so large that all but huge transactions are money losers. Anyway, that was the concern. It contrasts with the fee set by percentage of transaction size used by Visa.
- anonymouskimmer 4y ago
  And people in locations with big crypto farms can feel the hit in their own energy bills. Even people who never even heard of crypto will start to care when it hits their own pocketbook. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/business/bitcoin-mining-electricity-pollution.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/business/bitcoin-mining-e... > In Texas, where 10 of the 34 mines are connected to the state’s grid, the increased demand has caused electric bills for power customers to rise nearly 5 percent, or $1.8 billion per year > The program pays miners, and other companies, for promising to stop using electricity upon request. In reality, they are rarely asked to shut down, but are still paid for making the pledge. > From midnight to nearly 4 p.m. on June 23, Riot earned more than $42,000 from the program while continuing to mine Bitcoin. (Overall in 2022, Riot made nearly $9.3 million from participating in the program nearly 85 percent of the time, the data shows, though the grid operator asked companies to actually lower their use for about 3.5 hours.) > Around that time, the company switched to the second technique: avoiding fees that Texas charges to maintain and strengthen the power grid. It did so by briefly shutting off almost completely. > To incentivize big customers to conserve electricity, those fees are based on how much electricity they use during several peak summer moments. Riot reduced its power use by more than 99 percent. > By 6:30 p.m., the company had resumed mining. If Riot had been fully operating all day, it would have incurred an estimated $5.5 million in fees — costs that are largely made up by other Texans. Over the course of the year, this saved Riot more than $27 million in potential fees. > One final mechanism lets some companies make extra money when electricity prices spike: They can stop mining and resell electricity to other customers. That earned Riot roughly $18 million last year.
anonymouskimmer 4y ago
It's why when I first read about crypto back in 2013 or so I thought about getting into Peercoin whenever I had the money to do so. And it's why years later, when I finally had the money to do so, I never bought any crypto, even when FOMO was hitting hard. It's why I stopped taking late night drives in my car to wind down, instead taking walks. And why I try to drive to maximize fuel efficiency. It's why I felt guilty every time I flew a plane while a student pilot and never finished a full pilot's license (I never would have started in the first place had I not been pushed to do so by my father). Yes, some of us care.
- toomim 4y ago
  I did that too for the first 30 years of my life. Then I realized that I was compromising my own life, making sacrifices, and effectively giving away my power to the people who don't care. So I changed tactics, and bought a jeep.
  - anonymouskimmer 4y ago
    I'm in my 40s. Lawful Good isn't going to change. I like being able to live with myself, thank you very much.
matheusmoreira 4y ago
You're right about that. It's hilarious to watch first world citizens posting opinions about BTC energy consumption on their made in china computers. You'd think they'd downgrade their comfortable lifestyles or at least stop trading with china if that was so important to them. No, better focus on cryptocurrency instead which is not even 1% of global energy consumption. I'd have more respect if they just said "I hate crypto and want it banned".
- sowbug 4y ago
  You'd think we'd have solved climate change by now, judging from how important energy conservation is to the anti-Bitcoin crowd.

by kodah 4y ago

I don't think energy consumption was ever actually a virtue of the people who complained about it. It was just a means to an end for curbing crypto and it's grifts.

jjtheblunt 4y ago

Yeah it was: the energy cost (as in electric bill) to settle transactions is so large that all but huge transactions are money losers. Anyway, that was the concern. It contrasts with the fee set by percentage of transaction size used by Visa.

anonymouskimmer 4y ago
And people in locations with big crypto farms can feel the hit in their own energy bills. Even people who never even heard of crypto will start to care when it hits their own pocketbook. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/business/bitcoin-mining-electricity-pollution.html https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/09/business/bitcoin-mining-e... > In Texas, where 10 of the 34 mines are connected to the state’s grid, the increased demand has caused electric bills for power customers to rise nearly 5 percent, or $1.8 billion per year > The program pays miners, and other companies, for promising to stop using electricity upon request. In reality, they are rarely asked to shut down, but are still paid for making the pledge. > From midnight to nearly 4 p.m. on June 23, Riot earned more than $42,000 from the program while continuing to mine Bitcoin. (Overall in 2022, Riot made nearly $9.3 million from participating in the program nearly 85 percent of the time, the data shows, though the grid operator asked companies to actually lower their use for about 3.5 hours.) > Around that time, the company switched to the second technique: avoiding fees that Texas charges to maintain and strengthen the power grid. It did so by briefly shutting off almost completely. > To incentivize big customers to conserve electricity, those fees are based on how much electricity they use during several peak summer moments. Riot reduced its power use by more than 99 percent. > By 6:30 p.m., the company had resumed mining. If Riot had been fully operating all day, it would have incurred an estimated $5.5 million in fees — costs that are largely made up by other Texans. Over the course of the year, this saved Riot more than $27 million in potential fees. > One final mechanism lets some companies make extra money when electricity prices spike: They can stop mining and resell electricity to other customers. That earned Riot roughly $18 million last year.

anonymouskimmer 4y ago

It's why when I first read about crypto back in 2013 or so I thought about getting into Peercoin whenever I had the money to do so. And it's why years later, when I finally had the money to do so, I never bought any crypto, even when FOMO was hitting hard. It's why I stopped taking late night drives in my car to wind down, instead taking walks. And why I try to drive to maximize fuel efficiency. It's why I felt guilty every time I flew a plane while a student pilot and never finished a full pilot's license (I never would have started in the first place had I not been pushed to do so by my father). Yes, some of us care.

toomim 4y ago
I did that too for the first 30 years of my life. Then I realized that I was compromising my own life, making sacrifices, and effectively giving away my power to the people who don't care. So I changed tactics, and bought a jeep.
- anonymouskimmer 4y ago
  I'm in my 40s. Lawful Good isn't going to change. I like being able to live with myself, thank you very much.

matheusmoreira 4y ago

You're right about that. It's hilarious to watch first world citizens posting opinions about BTC energy consumption on their made in china computers. You'd think they'd downgrade their comfortable lifestyles or at least stop trading with china if that was so important to them. No, better focus on cryptocurrency instead which is not even 1% of global energy consumption. I'd have more respect if they just said "I hate crypto and want it banned".

sowbug 4y ago
You'd think we'd have solved climate change by now, judging from how important energy conservation is to the anti-Bitcoin crowd.