Re:Proof of stake is incapable of producing a consensus
by tsimionescu on Sunday November 28, 2021 @03:47AM
(#29367287)
Using power is never a net good, regardless of the type of power. If we don't need more power for something specific, the ideal is to just not build more power - consumption is not some noble goal.
Unless we believe that Bitcoin has some use, its power consumption would be problematic even if it weren't so monstrously large. And vanishingly few people believe Bitcoin has any value beyond a get rich quick scheme.
Re:Proof of stake is incapable of producing a consensus
by marginalia_nu on Sunday November 28, 2021 @06:42AM
(#29368106)
The point isn't to increase the proportion of renewable power, but to decrease the total amount of non-renewable power. 10% renewables is the same as 90% renewables if the remaining consumption is the same total amount.
There is no market in the world where you are going to decrease consumption by increasing the demand. That's just not how economics works.
If bitcoin mining uses co2 producing power (because the economics supports it), is that the fault of bitcoin or the government for not sufficiently taxing the negative externalities of that means of production?