Quote:
Originally Posted by Wallymo
I'm a boring investor tied up entirely in semi-aggressive mutual funds. But I've been reading this thread with interest for over a year. It's fascinating and I find myself rooting for all of you to make your fortunes.
I don't consider myself a hippie, but I heard a factoid recently that game me pause. I heard that the energy used in one day to mine bitcoin exceeds the energy collectively produced in a day by every solar panel on earth.
If that's true, you don't have to be a hippie to be concerned. Bitcoin mining appears to swamp every step we've taken on clean energy. Isn't that a concern? Does all cryptocurrency run on the same amount of mining energy? If not, wouldn't a non-energy consumer coin eventually be more profitable?
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There is much to be learned about the energy consumption of cryptocurrency. I really hope that a reliable study can be conducted to figure it out. The only two things I believe at this stage are:
1. Miners use the energy available to them. It could be coal. It could be solar.
2. Bitcoin energy usage is a fraction of what is used by the centralized banking system, which also consumes other resources like water and paper.
I am very interested in finding sustainability for decentralized and centralized systems.