Ethereum will use around 99.95% less energy post merge

Re:Ethereum will use around 99.95% less energy post merge by shawnz on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @12:14PM (#27196779)

It's not a counter-solution, it is a suggestion that the problem isn't really a problem. PoW power usage is high in an absolute sense but lower than many other things which people would consider an obvious waste. So why does PoW power usage have so much contention compared to those other things? I would say because there's too much baggage/hype associated with cryptocurrencies, not because there's a genuine belief that increasing the energy usage of our species is a universally bad thing.

As for the carbon side of the issue, that isn't something which is specific to cryptocurrencies or any other kind of energy usage. I support carbon taxes and import taxes on CO2-producing goods/services, including cryptocurrency services, and I am certain that many cryptocurrency believers feel the same way.

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Re:Ethereum will use around 99.95% less energy post merge by mc32 on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @12:25PM (#27197009)

So if ready alternatives didn’t exist, sure PoW is wasteful but has no alternative... but we have an alternative. If there were alternatives to running a social media platform that didn’t spend energy we should also back that option.

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Re:Ethereum will use around 99.95% less energy post merge by shawnz on Tuesday May 18, 2021 @12:30PM (#27197112)

Assuming you are talking about PoS systems, I think they are very promising but it's still not obvious that they can achieve the same risk profile as PoW systems. I think they are worthy of further research and I am excited to see how Eth 2.0 works in practice, but I don't think we understand the economic nature of cryptocurrencies well enough to definitively say that it can completely replace Bitcoin.

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