Much as I'm concerned about the environmental impact of bitcoin, the metal extraction argument really poisons the article early on by comparing the raw materials required for the equipment to mine...
Much as I'm concerned about the environmental impact of bitcoin, the metal extraction argument really poisons the article early on by comparing the raw materials required for the equipment to mine bitcoin versus just the finished material output of gold. As if gold just magically rises out of the ground equipment- and wear-free when the very next photo in the article is of behemoth mining trucks that are obviously made of metal, themselves. I feel like this is even going to get sympathetic audiences to click off the piece.
Even if this premise is correct, I feel it's ultimately one of semantics more than practicality. That is to say, what is the TOTAL environmental impact of these two factors, and are they really...
Even if this premise is correct, I feel it's ultimately one of semantics more than practicality.
That is to say, what is the TOTAL environmental impact of these two factors, and are they really the biggest point of focus on how to reduce environmental strain? If it all comes down to a fraction of a percent of impact, then I question the recent obsession.
Given that gold has been mined for centuries, and cryptocurrency's big mining isn't even a decade old, I feel that there's a potentially bigger source of pollution and degregation that may help with some immediate environmental concerns.
I'm no fan of crypto myself, but I am feeling a bit that the environmental angle is being used more as just a way to attack than it is a tremendous issue. Sure, it's an issue, but if we care about...
I'm no fan of crypto myself, but I am feeling a bit that the environmental angle is being used more as just a way to attack than it is a tremendous issue. Sure, it's an issue, but if we care about it's impact, there are bigger fish (though I understand some of it rises from extrapolation of current costs to discourage larger use of crypto).
It’s certainly a way to attack it, but that doesn’t mean the problem should be ignored. The numbers are really high already. Pointing to other, bigger carbon emitters doesn’t excuse it. It might...
It’s certainly a way to attack it, but that doesn’t mean the problem should be ignored. The numbers are really high already. Pointing to other, bigger carbon emitters doesn’t excuse it.
It might be reasonable in some cases to argue for patience. There’s some hope this problem will go away within a year for Ethereum due to the move to proof-of-stake, and we should be hoping that it does.
I don’t see anything like that happening for Bitcoin and I think the only thing for it is to try to crash the price.
Yeah, given time to consider my thoughts, I'm not sure I agree much with myself. I think this article is mostly a waste of time, and is using it as an excuse to attack crypto, and there is...
Yeah, given time to consider my thoughts, I'm not sure I agree much with myself. I think this article is mostly a waste of time, and is using it as an excuse to attack crypto, and there is certainly more of it outside of this, but that doesn't mean it's illegitimate or effort shouldn't be taken to reduce or avoid it.
I was turned off by the very first sentence. Ugh, another appeal to the mob - "Fewer and fewer Bitcoin proponents still claim that this crypto can be used as a daily currency". As if the world...
I was turned off by the very first sentence. Ugh, another appeal to the mob - "Fewer and fewer Bitcoin proponents still claim that this crypto can be used as a daily currency". As if the world didn't get enough of that for the last 4 years.
Much as I'm concerned about the environmental impact of bitcoin, the metal extraction argument really poisons the article early on by comparing the raw materials required for the equipment to mine bitcoin versus just the finished material output of gold. As if gold just magically rises out of the ground equipment- and wear-free when the very next photo in the article is of behemoth mining trucks that are obviously made of metal, themselves. I feel like this is even going to get sympathetic audiences to click off the piece.
Even if this premise is correct, I feel it's ultimately one of semantics more than practicality.
That is to say, what is the TOTAL environmental impact of these two factors, and are they really the biggest point of focus on how to reduce environmental strain? If it all comes down to a fraction of a percent of impact, then I question the recent obsession.
Given that gold has been mined for centuries, and cryptocurrency's big mining isn't even a decade old, I feel that there's a potentially bigger source of pollution and degregation that may help with some immediate environmental concerns.
I'm no fan of crypto myself, but I am feeling a bit that the environmental angle is being used more as just a way to attack than it is a tremendous issue. Sure, it's an issue, but if we care about it's impact, there are bigger fish (though I understand some of it rises from extrapolation of current costs to discourage larger use of crypto).
It’s certainly a way to attack it, but that doesn’t mean the problem should be ignored. The numbers are really high already. Pointing to other, bigger carbon emitters doesn’t excuse it.
It might be reasonable in some cases to argue for patience. There’s some hope this problem will go away within a year for Ethereum due to the move to proof-of-stake, and we should be hoping that it does.
I don’t see anything like that happening for Bitcoin and I think the only thing for it is to try to crash the price.
Yeah, given time to consider my thoughts, I'm not sure I agree much with myself. I think this article is mostly a waste of time, and is using it as an excuse to attack crypto, and there is certainly more of it outside of this, but that doesn't mean it's illegitimate or effort shouldn't be taken to reduce or avoid it.
I was turned off by the very first sentence. Ugh, another appeal to the mob - "Fewer and fewer Bitcoin proponents still claim that this crypto can be used as a daily currency". As if the world didn't get enough of that for the last 4 years.