Re:Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index
by alkonaut on Sunday August 27, 2017 @12:32PM
(#15111434)
> money that already exists
What does "exist" mean? The currency exists, but the amounts transfered over visa and other systems is not related to how much physical banknotes exist.
I haven't touched a banknote or coin in over a year. If they didn't exist I wouldn't have noticed.
You could argue that puts me in the hands of banks and visa/mc and you'd be correct. They know more about me than I'd like. But I hope the energy cost of my transactions are pretty low. More and more stores no longer accept cash, meaning they have no transports for cash.
The currency I use is not backed by a large gold reserve nor a huge military. Just a regular national bank of a small country.
So visa isn't money, but a central bank, commercial banks and visa can maintain a currency without the need for a lot of physical money, and hopefully with reasonable energy use.
What does "exist" mean? The currency exists, but the amounts transfered over visa and other systems is not related to how much physical banknotes exist.
I haven't touched a banknote or coin in over a year. If they didn't exist I wouldn't have noticed.
You could argue that puts me in the hands of banks and visa/mc and you'd be correct. They know more about me than I'd like. But I hope the energy cost of my transactions are pretty low. More and more stores no longer accept cash, meaning they have no transports for cash.
The currency I use is not backed by a large gold reserve nor a huge military. Just a regular national bank of a small country.
So visa isn't money, but a central bank, commercial banks and visa can maintain a currency without the need for a lot of physical money, and hopefully with reasonable energy use.