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Comment by Shorel | Hacker News Reader

Proof of Work vs Proof of Violence.

Well, technically you only need the threat of violence. Potential-but-unrealized violence is arguably much better for humanity than proof-of-ever-escalating wasted energy.

Maybe true depending on the energy source. I've heard it argued also that bitcoin will become the 'purchaser of last resort' for energy. For example, fracking companies often just burn off natural gas they find while looking for oil... instead, this gas could be used to mine btc. Also well documented that a lot of bitcoin operations in china are fueled by hydroelectric sources.

The promise of violence is free until realized though.

Hydroelectric sources that could be best used on homes, businesses, etc. Anything but Bitcoin, really.

Did everyone forget that the best goal we can achieve with power usage is by reducing consumption outright? Just because some of the mining is done on greener solutions doesn't mean it's a net positive.

Global warming isn't exactly going away if we keep this experiment up.

Yeah but good luck convincing people to move next to sources of energy so cheap it would be wasted otherwise (rural west texas, rural china). If bitcoin becomes the dominant global financial system, securing it will be a worthy use of energy.

I really hope you're wrong about that. Bitcoin becoming something like a world reserve currency will only make the problems infinitely worse. Be careful what you wish for, because future generations are going to be left holding the bag.

Promise of Violence.

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