• shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
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      15 days ago

      I never said I was a progressive and not all crypto uses a ton of power. Look at Ethereum, for example. That uses very little power because of being proof of stake. Or look at Monero, for example, because even though it’s proof of work, it’s specifically CPU based. On regular computers, which means that it uses no more power than your computer would be using anyway. Since it is CPU based, it is also not worth it to build large mining farms in big warehouses. However, even if you look at Bitcoin specifically, mining needs cheap power, and a lot of cheap power, according to everything I understand, is solar and hydro, which are renewable, and are used a lot. Bitcoin mining also puts off a lot of heat as a byproduct, which could be used to do things like dry clothes, heat pools, heat municipal city buildings, etc. Plus, you’re not taking into account the emissions of the banking sector in and of itself. How much stone is mined to build bank buildings? How much gasoline is burned to transport employees to and from work? How much gasoline is burned to use armored cars to transport cash, etc. If you are going to compare the environmental costs, at least make it an objective measure.