What I'd really like to see is a discussion of how Bitcoin energy use compares with the current banking system. Many people criticize Bitcoin in a vacuum - so it's easy to get behind those arguments.

But I'd rather talk about whether or not Bitcoin is worthwhile progress or not. The current banking system might not be as wasteful from an energy usage perspective - but might have other environmental costs - plastic, paper printing, transportation costs. How do those compare?

And is Bitcoin progress - in the sense that it eliminates the state from printing and controlling the currency? If not, then what would progress look like?