> There is no benefit to society from allowing this.

Sure there is. We get a financial system that's independent of banks and governments. I don't care how much energy it consumes, that's a worthy goal.

Also, it's not even 1% of global energy consumption and even that calculation is based on rather questionable assumptions like "energy usage is proportional to bitcoin price". If you want to stop the burning of fossil fuels, what you need to do is advocate against trade with not only China but also all western countries whose luxurious lifestyles are literally dependent on such wasteful use of resources. Gotta level heavy economic sanctions against all the highly polluting developed nations until they put a stop to it.

> We get a financial system that's independent of banks and governments. I don't care how much energy it consumes, that's a worthy goal.

I see it as exactly the opposite.

We live in a society, and as a society, we have agreed upon certain rules about how money is handled. If you want to opt out of those rules, then get out of our society.

> We live in a society, and as a society, we have agreed upon certain rules about how money is handled. If you want to opt out of those rules, then get out of our society.

Even the friends of mine who work in the banking industry will tell you that the current financial system is a rigged game that serves the elite and well-connected at the expense of ordinary people.

Reasonable people can disagree about the relative benefits and harms of cryptocurrency, but trying to make the case that the current financial system reflects some sort of happy societal consensus is roughly on par with being a lobbyist for big tobacco.

I'm not opting out of anything, nor am I leaving. Those "rules" form the backbone of the financial arm of total global surveillance. I oppose them on principle, as should everyone on this site. I want to see them either repealed or completely neutralized with subversive technology such as cryptocurrency. The only problem here is the fact that so much energy is being wasted on the failure that is bitcoin. I wouldn't mind even higher amounts being poured into Monero.

"Agreed upon" rules? This stuff is imposed on us.

Only in the same sense that laws are "imposed on" criminals. You may not have personally agreed to it, but it's part of the legal framework our society rests on.

Criminals like murderers? Yeah, everyone agrees with that, it's not controversial. Total surveillance? Not everyone accepts this fundamental injustice. Their actions violate the principles countries like the USA were literally founded upon. As far as we're concerned, they're the criminals here and this technology is just self-defense against their continued abuse.

They’re not merely making themselves wealthier - they’re providing a service. How is this different from an airline or any other user of fossil fuel?

Because the service as it stands is of dubious (or negative) worth. So far its main uses are enabling illegal activity and MLM-style get rich quick schemes. For all of the hubbub about the crypto-revolution, we are over a decade in and 99% of its use falls into those two categories.

I was sympathetic to that view right up until the Canadian government froze the bank accounts of the truckers. Now I'm openly supportive of the activities the regimes don't like in crypto.

> they’re providing a service

Doubling the price of GPUs is a pretty bad service.