This is another reason why bitcoin can never succeed. It's like an environmental disaster covered in flowers. Complete waste of scarce energy and sold as something wonderful.
securing a large financial network is not a waste.
The right question to ask is "what sort of an asshole would create a financial network which wastes so much energy
by design?!"
If satoshi was correct in assuming that the cost of mining will gravitate toward the price of the coins mined, and we are currently paying 7-10% of entire network's total worth to secure it, and energy cost is the lion's share of total mining cost... That's like 7-10% of entire world's wealth wasted
per year to "secure a financial network" (if Bitcoin becomes a global currency)
Pray for painless death?
or did you think the banks/visa/mastercard/paypal didn't use energy?
Per transaction? Incomparably less energy. Not even in the same ballpark.
I'd say bitcoin is a lot more energy efficient.
And you'd be dead wrong, too
The system of mining even encourages using energy efficient miners because f you use old models that use more electricity you will go broke.
The gear goes offline when it consumes more electricity than the price of the coins 'mined' by burning that electricity.
In other words, it is rational to mine up to the point at which (cost of wasted electricity) = (price of bitcoin mined).
If "printing" a $100 bill cost $100, wouldn't you think it absurd? But that's exactly how Bitcoin works.
