> The mainstream view -is- positive of Bitcoin. Very few people are actually concerned with the environmental impact.

You should ask yourself why that is. I think it's because Bitcoin is providing value to people. It has an extremely low barrier to entry. You don't need good credit to use it. You don't need to go to a bank. You don't need an id.

I don't think most people are actively using it yet, but they see the democratic nature of the "interface" to the crypto system and recognize that the power is shifted in their favor a bit more than the established monetary system. They know this because they've been abused by that system their entire lives.

I find a lot of upper middle class people struggle to see the value in Bitcoin because they can't empathize with people who can't use traditional banking.