Re:Bitcoin’s climate damage is similar to beef and crude oil...
by rufusroflpunch on Thursday September 29, 2022 @01:50PM
(#33024550)
This is not a correct analysis. Firstly, Bitcoin is far more price sensitive to electricity than almost any other industry. Remaining profitable requires very low electricity costs, and are usually not competing in the same price bracket as other uses of electricity. Bitcoin mining is most prevalent in places where the energy is already wasted (thus very low price at market). Because Bitcoin miners can act as a buyer of last resort, it actually incentivizes energy development, not only for Bitcoin, but for every use.
Also, Bitcoin miners aren't destined to grow infinitely, consuming all spare electricity. There will be an equilibrium point where Bitcoin mining computers can only get so efficient and so fast.
Re:Bitcoin’s climate damage is similar to beef and crude oil...
by actionfromafar on Friday September 30, 2022 @09:31AM
(#33034600)
There will be an equilibrium point - but that equilibrium will be between how many mining computers there can be run on the one side, and how much of the economy is parked in Bitcoin on the other side.
How efficient the computers are is completely beside the point, by protocol design.
Also, since energy is turned directly into money, it then becomes money, which translates in its price being dictated by the highest bidder. Read this as: building 100 more nuclear plants per country won't solve the problem because the sudden increase in available energy will shortly be defeated by more and more of it allocated for more mining, creating in a few years a new shortage.