Posted on 02/13/2022 8:00:56 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Those familiar with Bitcoin are aware that it consumes an enormous amount of energy. Estimates are that Bitcoin-mining consumes as much power as the entire country of Finland — roughly one half of one percent of all of the electrical power generated on Earth.
The theory behind Bitcoin is that avoiding detection of fraudulent transactions should be more expensive in terms of time, effort, and energy than is keeping track of honest transactions. There is necessarily some power required to keep track of honest transactions, and, in the case of Bitcoin, the power required is considerable.
The rationale behind the energy-intensive computer processing necessary to support Bitcoin was described in the original Bitcoin paper: "What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party."
The crucial point is that purpose of Bitcoin is to allow people to conduct transactions among themselves without a supervising institution such as a bank, while at the same time reassuring the transacting parties that the payment system is trustworthy.
Trust is necessary to any workable system of trade, whether that trust is in the other party to a transaction, a third-party intermediary, or a cryptographic system that makes fraud difficult to commit and easy to detect. In the absence of such a system, fraud associated with internet commerce would be extremely difficult to control, given the vast number of jurisdictions that are potentially involved, stateless actors, and the relative anonymity associated with virtual interactions.
The massive amounts of energy consumed by Bitcoin-mining demonstrates how important trust is in commerce. The commercial system outside cryptocurrency relies on a vast infrastructure of lawyers, courts, regulations, and industry groups to maintain trust in transactions.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
And that is not a full transaction so meaningless the energy you claim only gets used. Try this:
“Every single Bitcoin transaction—even buying a latte—consumes over $100 in electricity, says a new report”
https://fortune.com/2021/10/26/bitcoin-electricity-consumption-carbon-footprin/
Land and ammunition. What do I win?
The mining of Bitcoin requires much computing power. Right now, decent video cards are almost impossible to find and when you do, they cost twice as much as the rest of a computer. The Bitcoin miners have grabbed them all up and use them in mining computer farms. I have wanted to build a new desktop gaming machine for two years but I’m not going to pay $1,500 for a video card.
All depends on how you allocate the total cost.
True if you divide total energy usage in mining across each transaction.
Not true if you allocate energy usage to the miners alone.
My son got a 5 year full ride to a well-known university and graduated Summa Cum Laude with 4 simultaneous degrees: BS in Math and Computer Science and BA in Physics and Greek.
He was a crypto miner in the early days. He is the top R&D guy with a major international IT firm. He got me into BC very early.
His main point is that the money and energy spent on Bitcoin “is spent to provide the first and only honest financial system.”
Well then he should know BC was a hobbyist designed coin and has some fatal flaws for full blown scaleout. In the real world, good intentions dont cut it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.