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A comment on Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017 Record. Parent comment

Re:Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017... by wavepruner on Monday November 30, 2020 @01:22PM (#25257050)
The most important use-case for Bitcoin is the separation of money and state. As in, taking the place of USD as the worlds reserve currency. It does not need to be used to settle every little transaction for this, but rather used as a base layer for institutions. I know you are unlikely to see this use-case as plausible, but that is why so many people are buying Bitcoin right now.

For this use case, the amount of energy used to secure Bitcoin should be compared to the amount of energy used to secure the USD. Not just the energy to print cash, maintain digital system, etc, but the energy and human lives spent on war to maintain dominance.

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Re:Bitcoin Price Hits All-Time High of $19,786, Topping 2017... by modeless on Monday November 30, 2020 @01:38PM (#25257249)
> the energy and human lives spent on war to maintain dominance

This is a really important point that I want to emphasize. Maintaining the value and scarcity of a fiat currency such as the dollar requires strong law enforcement and ultimately, for a global reserve currency, dominating military power. Bitcoin mining is a rounding error compared to the peacetime US defense budget, let alone all the externalities associated with militaries and war.

This is still a big if, but if the function of establishing a scarce digital global reserve currency can be done by an algorithm without relying on law enforcement or militaries, at a fraction of the cost, that is a huge win for the world.

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