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The excellent student run newspaper, The Michigan Daily, has an article about the necessity of regulating Bitcoin. "Mining" even a single Bitcoin now burns as much electricity as a family would use during about 50 days.
Local grids physically cannot withstand this outrageous consumption of electricity. In foreign countries — where mining farm clustering is more severe — local governments suspect Bitcoin mining farms as the cause of power outages and complete blackouts. Entire neighborhoods are facing power shortages or complete outages as a result of energy grid strain. So far, the reliance on domestic energy has not had adverse effects, but it is only a matter of time before these blackouts begin to take place in the United States, too.
Despite the fatal externality flaws in Bitcoin mining, the industry is left unchecked in the absence of federal or international regulation on its use. Unfortunately, without restrictions on the amount of mining that can occur, there is no clear plateau to the electricity consumption of these constantly updating hardware systems.
Previously:
(2025) Bitcoin Mining is Making People Sick
(2025) The Guy Who Accidentally Threw Away $700 Million in Bitcoin Wants to Buy the Landfill to Find It
(2024) How A 27-Year-Old Busted The Myth Of Bitcoin's Anonymity
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aafcac on Sunday November 30, @09:19PM (1 child)
No, it doesn't. Preventing people from having more than $100m is not going to cause communism to break out. Honestly, I wonder where you people get these notions. A single person is not going to make that much working in a lifetime without a bunch of hyperinflation being involved. $10m is a bit of a stretch, but can be done with smart investment without being too much of a psychopath.
If that's your line on communism, I highly recommend going to places like the PRC or Cuba which are the closest we've got to actual communism and see what's going on. The results will likely surprise you a lot.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Monday December 01, @02:51PM
If there's no cap on wealth then we don't have to care how much should be good enough for what you think wealth should be used for. That solves a bigger problem than a wealth cap would solve.
Absolute shitshows driven in part by wealth inequality propaganda? I recommend not veering from wealth caps to defending failed states. It's a self-defeating argument.