How do you make your money and how do you spend your money?
I think that this is an interesting question when seeing headlines like this:
But, if they are taking donations in fiat currencies, are they doing a background check in how that money is made? The richest man in the world is Jeff Bezos, who runs one of the most valuable companies in the world, Amazon. However, what about their energy usage? Amazon is a gateway for consumer products and they have been very successful in places where they offer same-day and next-day delivery to the door. Is anyone questioning the energy consumption in the production of the products and delivery? I can guarantee it is more than the energy that Bitcoin uses to mine and likely much more than all of the crypto mining for all coins combined. Would Greenpeace turn a Bezos donation away?
The thing with currency is that the dirtiest bit of it all is what it is spent on, not how it is made, as there is a pipeline of consumption where consumers buy from places like Amazon without thought of environmental impact, and Amazon grow on the demand to create more environmental impact. Everything takes energy of some sort to produce, as does everything that needs to be transported, whether it is a high value item or not.
It would be interesting to know what are the dirtiest money-makers on earth, looking at the value of what they make is. How many dollars generated per kilowatt hour spent? Of course, you also have to factor in all other points of contention too, including materials used and supply chain energy consumption too. How much energy is spent by personal computers, TVs and phones daily on activities that generate zero dollars for the user? They do generate money for the suppliers though, which is how they can afford to build the factories and transport the goods all around the world.
The problem is that energy can be used by the one percent to produce goods and services to to the masses, but energy can only be used by the 99% to consume the goods and services. Energy consumption only becomes a problem when it generates wealth for the 99% outside of their controlled systems. You are allowed to buy a car that has a very heavy energy production cost, you are allowed to drive it on oil which not only releases pollution from the energy, but also has a very energy intensive mining process and you are allowed to consume all kinds of other energy intensive resources, as long as you pay for it with a controlled currency.
This has nothing to do with energy consumption and everything to do with maintaining control of wealth. You will often hear the arguments against renewable energy and clean tech to be "it is too expensive" without ever questioning - it isn't expensive at all - it is part of the economy. Just shift the majority of money that goes into non-clean business models into clean tech and voilà, the economy keeps ticking along with a great deal more innovation and a great deal less pollution.
"Money" has nothing to do with it.
The only thing that matters is who is holding that money and how they are currently making their money, as they want people to keep consuming their products so they can make more money.
The world we currently have is a massive energy burner, as most of the money that has ever been made on earth so far has come from industries that have consumed a lot of energy and continue to do so in various ways. To change this, the entire system has to be shifted, but the irony is, it takes energy to do so.
Interestingly, when looking at Bitcoin energy consumption, it has been compared to the consumption of Norway, which also has the highest rate of electric car sales in the world. However, what isn't mentioned, is that Norway also produces 2 million barrels of oil a day, which at the current 64 dollars a barrel price, is 128 million dollars worth a day. Of course, they aren't making 128 million dollars a day from it, as there is an entire industry supply chain required to mine that oil.
But, the world consumes about 97 million barrels of oil a day, which is 6.2 billion dollars generated at the crude oil price. Then there are all of the associated industries and products that refine and use the oil and fossil fuel energy to make and produce all of the other stuff we consume along the consumption path from "farm" to "table" and then into a landfill. The circle of strife.
But none of this is getting talked about, because it breaks the narrative that Bitcoin mining is not worth the energy expenditure, when it is likely one of the most efficient generators of wealth on the market place. However, where it really does get dirty, is in how the Bitcoin is spent, because when it is spent at the same companies that are currently the worlds greatest polluters, it is being used to support the system, not break it.
The reason why suspected institutional investors have been buying the dip is that they don't care about environmental concerns of Bitcoin, because they don't care about environmental concerns EVER.* All they care about is generating wealth and Bitcoin is a way for them to generate a massive amount of wealth because it is efficient and doesn't require all of the supply chain of oil or the drama of war to collect and, the higher the price goes, the more efficient that which has already been mined becomes.
With 18.5 million bitcoin already mined and many of them having been mined on people's personal computers at low energy cost, the stock-to-flow model looks like it is selling Bitcoin short in terms of future value. When Bitcoin hits a million, it will be the greenest wealth that has ever been generated on earth by far and, the most distributed amongst the global population from any industry.
But hey, who cares about the future.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
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Computers are used to mine bitcoin. A lot of computers and relatively fast ones. Now amazon web service host video and imagery storage on a lot of computers and relatively fast ones because no one want to have a "DOh" headslap like Homer Simpson and the Janeway download. How many computers does google use or youtube use? It has never been about the energy if it was there would be major outrage over the entire industry.
The only reason power consumption was brought up in relation to mining Bitcoin is to make it the boogeyman of finance and therefor needing to control how and where and who could be allowed to mine it and then use it.
A lot I assume. But it doesn't matter, because they generate wealth for approved business.
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Same thing as happened to the small farmers in America during the mid nineties. It was more cost effective and more fuel efficient for big business to farm than it was for the small to medium farmers. And now the second land grab is underway in America, I don't know if Gates is buying farms in other countries or not, but a land grab by him none the less, just for the sake of control.
!ENGAGE 25
If you want to be rich, you have to own something - and farms are out of the price range for normal people.
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Land of any nature is getting hard to find and own, and in America you really do not get to own the land. If oil or other minerals are found then the companies can come in and destroy your land with out any real permission from the land owner. Most land owners do not even enjoy water rights in America. It is pretty much a mess over here.
Water is going to cause the next big wars I guess..
Seems like when I lived in California there were constant water wars. Most likely there still are they just no longer make the headlines since it is almost a daily thing there, or I think the water wars are still going between the north and south of California with the central valley farmlands caught in the middle.
ENGAGEtokens.I don't think there would be outrage, it would be one of those inconvenient things quietly ignored because "everybody" likes or at least uses Google and Youtube and "nobody" likes being inconvenienced :)
They probably have their own datacentres x_x
I'm fine with people pointing out problems like this, it just never seems all that sincere or informed. Usually the person making the argument is sincere about their desire to help the planet but they don't even realize all the other shit they contribute too. It's all dirty, all of it, but these are the same people who make the lesser evil argument so this should be a very easy decision. Framing, gotta change the framing.
Why will BTC be greener at 1 million tho? I don't understand
Long time no see btw, I haven't been doing much browsing these days since I started this new account. <3
This is the way it is. We can only focus on one thing at a time, the rest is unconscious.
The mining of the new coins won't be (unless the mining process changes or the energy used gets greener, the second being quite likely), but the value is added to all coins. So the first millions of coins that were mined on very little electricity, now have a very, very, very high dollar to energy ratio. It is cost averaging against energy.
How's the new account working out?
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Ahh I see. I thought the amount of energy used would go up along with the price.
New account is great but a lot of people still don’t realize I changed over and I’m far less active than before, finishing up my book and integrating any work and art more. Making the rounds slowly ! ❤️
It does go up with the price. But the original amount mined has already been mined and I think if it is going to become a store of value, a lot of it will be stored for yield, not transacted. Also, I think that later, the transactions will evolve.
Why did you change the account by the way?
I feel the energy consumption saga is just an excuse and that is not the true reason behind the stoppage of the acceptance of bitcoin. With all these statistics you have exposed in this post then there is something fishy.
I guess people want to make the bitcoin market monopolized buy don't know how they can go about it. I think that's also the problem the government also has.
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It is all about control of us.
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I care about the future, this is the reason why I am currently buying satochis, the lower the price the better, save and save, it is my intention, the BTC will be part of the future I am sure, the energy problem will be left behind, the future will be look great being patient and saving and saving
It will be an interesting decade ahead.
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There you have it folks. It isn't about energy, simply about who gets to keep controlling what
People only work in self-interest of some kind. Some only work for more power over others.
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Context
This is the huge equalizer of this entire discussion. We as a planet should have a way to objectively compare companies when we discus energy use we throw out numbers, and say they are bad or good. Until then we really have little context for these discussions.
As an example, the banking industry consumes 1000 times more electricity then Bitcoin with its multiple bank branches and atm machines. Or the USA uses more electricity in the last week of December each year for Christmas lights then several 3rd world countries use in a year,
These are big numbers, but are they bad or good?
How do we contextualize them?
I am just an asker of questions, and dont know the answer, but I think thats the question we should be having.
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Just think about how much energy Vegas uses, plus water - all for entertainment.
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That’s another good example.
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I am sure that there would be no problem about energy consumption if instead of using it in Bitcoin we used it on the playstation, watching movies, or using the smartphone all day.
Precisely. We can use all we want as long as we pay for it and it doesn't empower us.
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An interesting and well conceived article. One factor not mentioned is the fact that 'money' is only a concept and actually takes many forms not just 'currency'. It is merely a medium that simplifies the exchange of goods and services and, as you point out, it is how that medium is used that creates the idea of 'dirty' money.
One of the great advantages of crypto is the intrinsic transparency. With this it is possible to know how all of it is being used and even who the actors are. Given the stated missions of organizations such as Greenpeace I find it amazing that they don't understand this potential and act accordingly. This is particularly true when one considers that there is a crypto specifically created to monetize carbon credits (I believe that is the principle function).
As @taskmaster4450le so often points out, we are witnessing a transformation in the very concept of economy. Those who get on board early will be able to ride out the storm more comfortably and only the crystal ball know where this road will take us in the long term.
Good article.
Blessed Be
It's never about energy, climate change or any of that stuff. It has to do with control. As you rightfully stated:
"as long as you pay for it with a controlled currency" - keyword: controlled
"This has nothing to do with energy consumption and everything to do with maintaining control of wealth." You nailed it here! !BBH
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Because this is such an awesome post, here is a BBH Tip for you.
. Keep up the fantastic work