alt Hacker NewsSorry to be the bearer of bad news, but PoW is going to become a liability in a world of energetic production. It is irrational to spend the same amount of energy on mining a digital token when it can be used to build and power actual productive robots.
If Bitcoin Core decides this is true and alters the algo to save the chain, it too will lead to collapse as a Balkanization will occur across the mining pools. The most likely outcome is disintegration.
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I have no idea if it’s true, but i did see some estimates that the visa and mastercard systems also use the same order of magnitude of energy.
> It is irrational to spend the same amount of energy on mining a digital token when it can be used to build and power actual productive robots
It's just as irrational as it was 10 years ago, there have always been more productive uses for energy, but it doesn't really matter, people will always chose their own short-term profit, expecting anything else is delusional
Economically, the amount spent on electricity for PoW mining will be close to and generally below the payout for that mining.
The price in US dollars for either block rewards or electricity can go up or down, but this comparison always stays the same.