How much energy do you and everyone else waste doing things that don't add value to my life or society?
Using your own comparison, why is it a big deal if little Jimmy can't afford a graphics card to play some Counter-Strike? Is gaming a better use for energy?
Seems weird to pick on cryptocurrencies if you actually believe your premise, which I don't think you do.
Hardly. What, exactly, does bitcoin add to our world? Near as I can tell it's only use case is Making Money Fast (for the folks at the top of the pyramid, anyway) and scamming the bejesus out of all the rubes who fall for the con.
> How much energy do you and everyone else waste doing things that don't add value to my life or society?
Bitcoin is estimated to consume more than 0.5% of all the worlds energy. Many nations use less power than bitcoin consumes. Bitcoin can process a mere 4 transactions per second. Please go on and explain to me why this is even a remotely acceptable thing.
The whole space is a deplorable shame and people like you should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves. You are a drain on the planet's limited resources.
Opportunity cost. All that 100% renewable energy could be used for something that actually adds value to society but isn't because it is being pissed away on the Rube Goldberg invention known as Satoshi's BlockChain.
> Also they pay for all the energy they spend so what exactly is the problem?
Give me a fucking break. These miners raise the price of electricity for everybody else and produce absolutely nothing of value to society at large.
Same thing these miners have done with graphics cards -- they've made graphics cards more expensive than most people can afford... you know, people who want to use those video cards for playing games instead of sucking down large quantities of non-renewable energy in a vain attempt to Get Rich Quick.
Bitcoin and all the others in the crypto "space" add absolutely zero value to society.