Square: Bitcoin Is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future

Re:Square: Bitcoin Is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future by danaris on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @02:01PM (#26893229)

This is a fairly common fallacy, though I'm not sure if it's formalized enough to have a name.

I have enough time and energy to criticize both mega cargo ships and Bitcoin for their unnecessary pollution.

Also, if we banned Bitcoin tomorrow, the only people who would really notice are those who have bet their shirts on a risky investment. If we banned large cargo ships tomorrow, everyone would feel it as delivery times (and possibly prices) for things increased. Personally, I'd be willing to pay those higher prices in exchange for less pollution.

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Re:Square: Bitcoin Is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future by whycombagator on Wednesday April 21, 2021 @02:31PM (#26893629)

Sure but I think GP’s point is that the amount of criticism & headlines Bitcoin gets for its energy use, fairly or unfairly, appears orders of magnitude more than other areas, like online gaming (or dozens of other industries).

Probably because, as you point out, there’s a lot of money and companies in those other industries. And those industries would rather not make headlines for negative environmental, or other, reasons. (Legal apparatus, lobbyists, etc etc)

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