351
Bitcoin miners win legal battle to keep mum about energy use [US]
(www.theverge.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
An alternative way to buy things or even store value (maybe not Bitcoin specifically on that one, but other currencies). Admittedly I don't think its the best at any of those things, but it doesn't have to be. I know that's always the ant-crypto person's next come back, suddenly change the goal post from having some value to being the best at a particular thing. Some people value the decentralized nature of it, and right or wrong, I don't see why their choice of using something you don't like shouldn't be allowed.
I don't use them, and agree with a lot of the reasons for not using them, but I just don't see my self as the ultimate arbiter of what should be allowed. If there is no value, then eventually it will fizzle out, and we can all continue not using them like we have been. While the environmental angle is very convenient to vilify it (or any other thing you personally don't like for that matter), I don't see how it fairly gets applied to this and not almost every aspect of life. Cars for example, a great one because it falls into the same trap. The general consensus on Reddit/Lemmy is that any one who drives a pickup truck is a POS, but even if the anti-truck gang could wave a wand and ban them all, will it then become the anti-rav 4, CRV, etc etc. As long is there is any choice in a vehicle, someone could always they that someone is driving something bigger and worse for an environment than the need and that they are a bad person for it.
Another great example is air travel. This one gets some attention around celebs and private jets, but for the most part you don't see people in here saying what a piece of garbage anyone who travels by air more than once a decade or so is. I mean I haven't done any non work travel in that long, so clearly no one else should need to.
Sorry this got long, but it all comes back to the point of who gets to decide? Worth taking a setup back from the group think of Reddit/Lemmy and realize there are always going to be people who do things and even use resources on things that you (or me) think are stupid.
"if there's no value it will eventually fizzle out"
Have you seen the capitalist hell scape around us? It will keep itself up and going because dummy's want to do stuff inefficiently for no reason other than they think It benefits them. But except for the ultra wealthy, it's a drain on the user and on society as a whole.