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Re:Bitcoin mining hash rate drops as blackouts instituted in... by CogitoCogito on Sunday April 18, 2021 @02:38PM (#26855063)
> This ROI _could_ be funneled into carbon offset projects, renewables, and research.

They could also just take the costs that would go to ASICs and instead put that into the investments in the first place. What actual utility is there in some mathematical computations for society as a whole?

Re:Bitcoin mining hash rate drops as blackouts instituted in... by maerF0x0 on Tuesday April 20, 2021 @01:32PM (#26877704)
If the btc has greater value than the outputs from the renewables, then the market is "voting" on what is actually the most valuable thing to that society.

I know it's tempting to argue along the lines of "What could be more important than the environment?" and that is a good question, but that is a shift in societal values question, not an economic one. Economics simply helps one optimize the outcomes towards a values set.

Re:Bitcoin mining hash rate drops as blackouts instituted in... by imtringued on Sunday April 18, 2021 @02:42PM (#26855104)
If the computation had utility then it would be predictable.

Think of calculating digits of Pi. You can calculate the digits ahead of time and stockpile them, you can use your stockpile to do a 51% attack.