> I see proponents of Bitcoin always mention comparisons to the entirety of the finance industry, but I've yet to see numbers back that up? All we can see right now is that Bitcoin uses more power per transaction. Comparing it to the entirety of the finance industry is perhaps taking the physical presence of the industry in to account, but do people assume a crypto future would be completely digital? Would you have no need for finance buildings for in person consulting etc? Perhaps. But that's several leaps of faith. If Bitcoin somehow took over the entire financial industry, would it be more power efficient than it is today?

The irony with this argument is that Coinbase, Binance and other exchanges are all part of the "finance industry". The elusive "finance industry" will always consume more energy, by definition.