Did Bitcoin just prove it can't scale?

Re:Did Bitcoin just prove it can't scale? by Phenomenit on Saturday December 09, 2017 @01:13PM (#15887090)

Is that really a fare comparison? I mean Visa and Mastercard use the global banking infrastructure to complete its transactions. I cant open a Visa or Mastercard account but I can generate a wallet in one second and use it instantly.

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Re:Did Bitcoin just prove it can't scale? by ben_w on Saturday December 09, 2017 @04:18PM (#15888213)

I have two questions:

1) Is this wallet going to have any spendable money in it one second after creation, or do you have to wait for the network to process your transaction like everyone else?

2) How often is it useful to create a wallet in one second?

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Re:Did Bitcoin just prove it can't scale? by Phenomenit on Saturday December 09, 2017 @04:47PM (#15888355)

My point wasn't really about comparing Visa/Mastercard connected accounts with cryptoaccounts.

I just wanted to highlight that for a traditional transaction to be completed between to accounts requires a lot more energy and infrastructure than just the energy consumed directly by those services.

Nevertheless I still think its outrageous that so much energy is wasted mining BTC.

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Re:Did Bitcoin just prove it can't scale? by ben_w on Saturday December 09, 2017 @05:01PM (#15888420)

Please quantify the energy use of the conventional approach — many people want to make the same point as you, but there don’t seem to be any (easily referenced) numbers estimating the energy cost per transaction of the alternatives.

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