OV9

ZedLeg wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:57 pm

Mito Man wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:28 pm

ZedLeg wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 1:48 pm That’s not true, Bitcoin still has around 3 mil to be mined on it’s own.

The energy consumption of crypto miners has rocketed over the last year.

Yes but once they’re mined then it’s pretty negligible. Can’t remember but someone big on Twitter recently said that to pay via Bitcoin at a local coffee shop is the equivalent of driving a V8 to Paris and back in terms of CO2 emissions. Which it is if it’s a newly mined Bitcoin but that doesn’t apply each time that segment of an existing coin is then used over and over again.

Well yes, but the vast majority of the energy used is from non renewables so the damage has already been done.

This is the equivalent of the NFT argument that as people work on them the technology will become more efficient. So it's fine to waste large amounts of energy now on something that's essentially completely useless.

Simon wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:52 pm Beany and Rich are correct.

And to be honest the thing that really makes me smile is when I read of anyone losing a shit ton of money on crypto. Because frankly, people deserve it. It's not a tangible creation, it's a waste of electricity, it's used by criminals to buy stuff anonymously, people never ever declare it any pay their taxes on it and lastly, but by no means least, Elon Musk likes it. I hope everyone involved loses their shirt frankly, and now that Tesla are accepting bitcoin hope they bankrupt themselves over it.

Blockchain does have some (limited) uses. Cryptocurrencies are for paedos and losers.

Simon wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 4:52 pm Beany and Rich are correct.

And to be honest the thing that really makes me smile is when I read of anyone losing a shit ton of money on crypto. Because frankly, people deserve it. It's not a tangible creation, it's a waste of electricity, it's used by criminals to buy stuff anonymously, people never ever declare it any pay their taxes on it and lastly, but by no means least, Elon Musk likes it. I hope everyone involved loses their shirt frankly, and now that Tesla are accepting bitcoin hope they bankrupt themselves over it.

Blockchain does have some (limited) uses. Cryptocurrencies are for paedos and losers.

Mito Man wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:59 pm It's not great but its going to happen regardless, I'm just saying that I'm okay with owning crypto from an environmental aspect.

Also it's not necessarily a failure of crypto that it takes how ever many tonnes of CO2 to mine per coin but rather a failure of our electrical infrastructure worldwide - much like people who bitch that EVs aren't green because they're being charged via a coal power station.

speedingfine wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:37 pm A1 posts from Simon on this thread

mik wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 8:53 pm

speedingfine wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:37 pm A1 posts from Simon on this thread

Seconded

Simon wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:24 pm A colleague left a couple of weeks ago. On his leaving email that he sent round was a link to his NFT 'wallet' showcasing all the art he'd bought and was trying to shift. He's spent a not inconsiderable amount of money on what are essentially just pixels. Some of them were animated. Some of them had silly names. All of them were ridiculous.

DeskJockey wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:53 pm

Mito Man wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:59 pm It's not great but its going to happen regardless, I'm just saying that I'm okay with owning crypto from an environmental aspect.

Also it's not necessarily a failure of crypto that it takes how ever many tonnes of CO2 to mine per coin but rather a failure of our electrical infrastructure worldwide - much like people who bitch that EVs aren't green because they're being charged via a coal power station.

Why is it going to happen regardless? It isn't an inevitable fact. And while the electricity infrastructure may be part of the problem in terms of power production, it doesn't help that miners are wasting the equivalent of Argentina's energy consumption (and if that's without taking into account the energy consumed in making the components for the mining infrastructure, that makes it even worse) on a completely useless pursuit of nothing.

Mito Man wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 10:25 pm

DeskJockey wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 7:53 pm

Mito Man wrote: Wed Mar 24, 2021 3:59 pm It's not great but its going to happen regardless, I'm just saying that I'm okay with owning crypto from an environmental aspect.

Also it's not necessarily a failure of crypto that it takes how ever many tonnes of CO2 to mine per coin but rather a failure of our electrical infrastructure worldwide - much like people who bitch that EVs aren't green because they're being charged via a coal power station.

Why is it going to happen regardless? It isn't an inevitable fact. And while the electricity infrastructure may be part of the problem in terms of power production, it doesn't help that miners are wasting the equivalent of Argentina's energy consumption (and if that's without taking into account the energy consumed in making the components for the mining infrastructure, that makes it even worse) on a completely useless pursuit of nothing.

The current Bitcoin surge is mainly due to institutional investors, it’s not going to be something that goes out of fashion any time
Soon.
It’s becoming another way to invest and diversify portfolios for hedge funds now which is why they’re all piling into it and trying to get ETFs approved.

The environmental aspect of it is a bit like gold, although I imagine mining gold is actually worse considering the amount of virgin ground that has to be ripped up for it, and most of it is merely stockpiled as an alternate form of money or jewellery compared to what is mined to make electronics.