First of all, the cryptocurrencies don’t actually work as currency. That’s the big deal. They’re hard to buy because they are deliberately incompatible with the rest of the financial system. They’re incredibly hard to hold on to because, well, something goes wrong it’s “Sorry for your loss.” That’s a function of the irreversible design. And finally, they’re actually really hard to spend. Most merchants who accept cryptocurrency aren’t actually accepting cryptocurrency, they’re using a service that turns it into dollars.
The mining for “proof-of-waste” is such that it’s about the same amount of power draw as Singapore, and in a way that actually disfavors renewables. So the externalities are huge, and the benefits are effectively nonexistent.
Eulogy made by Nicholas Weaver
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