To address two of your points in particular: 1. Even if the energy consumption of the traditional banking industry is comparable or higher, it supports the dai

To address two of your points in particular: 1. Even if the energy consumption of the traditional banking industry is comparable or higher, it supports the daily activities of literally 5 or 6 orders of magnitude more entities and people than the 137 outfits mentioned in TFA. 4. The environmental angle is only one aspect - the other is simply that energy costs have never been higher, and crypto mining adds another energy consumer competing against householders, pushing costs up yet further. (Yes, I know, crypto mining can be set up to happen only when there's spare capacity, and I'm sure the miners can be relied upon to act responsibly in that regard...)