The estimate of the amount of electricity Bitcoin consumes (from a footnote) is distressing -- on the order of a small country...
This is one of the big reasons why I personally will never buy into a cryptocurrency (and especially bitcoin) -- too much wasted energy. If I want to engage in speculative trading, I'll do it in the stock market.
But what are you comparing the cost of running Bitcoin to, the entire world's banking infrastructure? Does this take into account all of money that has slipped through the cracks over the years?
i.e. https://www.thenation.com/article/pentagon-audit-budget-frau...
> "there were no ledger entries or receipts to back up how that $6.5 trillion supposedly was spent"
> "In all, at least a mind-boggling $21 trillion of Pentagon financial transactions between 1998 and 2015 could not be traced, documented, or explained"
I seem to remember that proof-of-stake has been coming 'next year' for about 3 years now.
Is it notable that proof-of-stake moves power from the means of production to the owners?