“The laws of supply and demand mean that the amount of energy consumed closely tracks the price of the cryptocurrency in question: increases in demand correspond directly to increases in energy use. Although some newer cryptocurrencies avoid this through alternative protocols (“proof of stake” etc), they remain a distinct minority. Additionally, inter-currency trading means that their value closely tracks that of the larger cryptocurrencies, meaning that changes in their price have a similar effect on the total energy consumption.”

I’m a little confused by that last part, maybe a more economically-minded commenter can help me. How does the price change of a small-cap proof-of-stake currency have a similar effect on energy consumption as a larger, proof-of-work one?