Re:Crypto: When Will the Madness Stop?
by pcthrowaway on Sunday January 23, 2022 @06:05AM
(#30045289)
Excellent, and I am happy to see a well-presented criticism of the enormous waste of energy bitcoin has become.
And in full disclosure, I used to really like bitcoin, but my first time reading about the energy consumption was in 2020 which is when I started looking at other projects. Despite many other valid criticisms of the crypto space, there is something unique and interesting in decentralized technology. I knew bitcoin mining has an associated energy cost, but it never occurred to me prior to reading about it that it could consume as much energy globally as it does.
There are many people who still won't concede defeat for bitcoin/proof-of-work (likely because they have become emotionally invested), and I think a call to action for governments and the developers is really important.
For context though, the developers working on the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap have acknowledged the problem (years ago, before the energy consumption was even so extreme) and are planning to complete their years-in-the-making transition to proof of stake this year.
And in full disclosure, I used to really like bitcoin, but my first time reading about the energy consumption was in 2020 which is when I started looking at other projects. Despite many other valid criticisms of the crypto space, there is something unique and interesting in decentralized technology. I knew bitcoin mining has an associated energy cost, but it never occurred to me prior to reading about it that it could consume as much energy globally as it does.
There are many people who still won't concede defeat for bitcoin/proof-of-work (likely because they have become emotionally invested), and I think a call to action for governments and the developers is really important.
For context though, the developers working on the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap have acknowledged the problem (years ago, before the energy consumption was even so extreme) and are planning to complete their years-in-the-making transition to proof of stake this year.