Can you have a secure blockchain without mining or energy consumption? Do the energy consumption statistics often shared by the media make sense? Why should the focus be on energy generation, not energy consumption? Energy consumption in Bitcoin has almost nothing to do with the number of transactions. Should we start pricing in the externalities of carbon? How does Bitcoin mining fund alternative energy solutions?

This question is from an event which took place on November 10th 2018 as part of the ‘Internet of Money’ tour at the Edmonds Center for the Arts near Seattle, Washington: https://antonopoulos.com/event/the-internet-of-money-tour-seattle/

If you want early-access to talks and a chance to participate in the monthly live Q&As with Andreas, become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/aantonop

RELATED:
Immutability and Proof-of-Work: The Planetary Scale Digital Monument – https://youtu.be/rsLrJp6cLf4
Proof-of-Work (PoW), Proof-of-Stake (PoS), Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) – https://youtu.be/3W_3AQrQEOM
The value of proof-of-work – https://youtu.be/ZDGliHwstM8
What is mining? – https://youtu.be/t4p4iMqmxbQ
Nonces, mining, and quantum computing – https://youtu.be/d4xXJh677J0
Energy consumption – https://youtu.be/2T0OUIW89II
Solar energy and mining in space – https://youtu.be/cusakcpa8AM
What should not go on a blockchain? – https://youtu.be/shn9otsT-Pw
The 14nm limit, decentralization, and renewable-energy mining – https://youtu.be/gYwc_MCC4us
Why has mining centralised in China? – https://youtu.be/8iyOKlzEe-0
Bitmain and the ASICBoost allegations – https://youtu.be/t6jJDD2Aj8k

Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a technologist and serial entrepreneur who has become one of the most well-known and respected figures in bitcoin.

Follow on Twitter: @aantonop https://twitter.com/aantonop
Website: https://antonopoulos.com/

He is the author of two books: “Mastering Bitcoin,” published by O’Reilly Media and considered the best technical guide to bitcoin; “The Internet of Money,” a book about why bitcoin matters.

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MASTERING BITCOIN, 2nd Edition: https://amzn.to/2xcdsY9

Translations of MASTERING BITCOIN: https://bitcoinbook.info/translations-of-mastering-bitcoin/

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v1: https://amzn.to/2ykmXFs

THE INTERNET OF MONEY, v2: https://amzn.to/2IIG5BJ

Translations of THE INTERNET OF MONEY:
Spanish, ‘Internet del Dinero’ (v1) – https://amzn.to/2yoaTTq
French, ‘L’internet de l’argent’ (v1) – https://www.amazon.fr/Linternet-largent-Andreas-M-Antonopoulos/dp/2856083390
Russian, ‘Интернет денег’ (v1) – https://www.olbuss.ru/catalog/ekonomika-i-biznes/korporativnye-finansy-bankovskoe-delo/internet-deneg
Vietnamese, ‘Internet Của Tiền Tệ’ (v1) – https://alphabooks.vn/khi-tien-len-mang

MASTERING ETHEREUM (Q4): https://amzn.to/2xdxmlK

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46 COMMENTS

  2. Interesting POV. Although i agree to some extension, i find it mind boggling why everyone is talking about the environmental impact crypto has by wasting energy but totally ignoring the fact that its footprint is much lager then “just burning fuel”. The amount of CPU’s, GPU’s, assic’s miners that are stressed to the limit because of aggressive competition. Please do the math for me because i’m just a stupid small fish but please can someone just do the math and tell us how many electronics are burned caused by POW alone in a year. I would love to finally see those numbers.

  4. Keeping up with the Kardashians consumer significantly more electricity than bitcoin. 1.6billion tv's. Average power consumption of 72 watts. Used 5 hours a day. Uses 204twh. Btc running 24/7 uses 42twh. But btc is so wasteful!!

  10. I love Andreas but he didn't address something I think might be important. Bitcoin electricity consumption isn't related to the number of transactions on the network. What is it related to? As I understand it, it's related to the hash rate. More miners = higher hash rate? Higher BTC price = more miners?
    So therefore: higher BTC price = more electricity consumption? Which could still grow at a ridiculous rate?

    Also, do second layer bitcoin applications like Liquid influence any of this?

  11. "Should we start pricing in the externalities of carbon" = "should we self-appoint a violent monopoly to arbitrarily set a price on carbon emissions, and to violently force unwilling people to pay for it". Smh.

  12. You are correct in theory. There should be a global cap and trade (and carbon tax perhaps). Bitcoin mining could work under a sound cap and trade model that was properly implemented. But do you expect an effective global cap and trade system to be put in place where (enough) governments are on board and where we could accurately monitor (enough large) participants to limit emissions to an acceptable level?

    In my opinion, with the law of the land: 1) We will not have such policies implemented across the globe quickly if at all. (So we are doing a lot of damage between now and then. We should be taking responsibility if we care about the planet) 2) We will not be able to monitor most miners effectively at the time of their mining. Only large and sophisticated companies would comply. Plenty of small miners are going to be burning coal in remote areas and getting around regulation. They will do whatever minimizes costs just like any greedy capitalist would (game theory).

    Would it be possible to have some kind of sustainability built into the code of the Bitcoin network? Could we be able to limit rewards in the network for only hash produced by solar power (or other renewable sources)?

  14. Awesome speech! As for burning "fossil fuels".. that is yet another myth perpetrated by the oil barons to keep the price high through the myth of scarcity, just like DeBeers promotes the myth of scarce crystalized carbon (diamonds). Oil is most likely produced by the Earth itself and also exists in space.. there are complete interplanetary nebulas of hydrocarbons floating around in space that have been detected by spectrum analysis.. there were no dinosaurs in space BTW.

  16. What an incredible explanation – I've been trying to come up with a cogent set of arguments against "Bitcoin takes too much energy" and Andreas compresses it all in <10 min.

    It's only a matter of time before aantonop hits 1 mil subscribers.

  20. To sum up "dumping waste" as just being "Capitalism" is nonsense. Waste happens in all types of political systems. Capitalism actually allows innovation in waste management. From an emissions standpoint, the US has reduced emissions the most BY FAR… I think most people are not only absolutely clueless about Capitalism because they've been taught to hate it since high school, but also clueless about the energy space… Bitcoin is extremely Capitalist and Voluntaryist at its core as well, you're sort of discrediting your argument by bashing it.

    Otherwise, great explanation.

  22. While all of this is true, the "How about.." argument is not very good and usally used by people who have no real arguments. Just because there is even more energy wasted somewhere else, doesn't make it ok for the Bitcoin network to waste energy as well.

  34. BTC also doesnt need co² polluting concrete buildings like traditional banking, also its not btc fault that miners use coal/nuclear energy to mine them. Bitcoin is just a protocol lol.. so wtf are those electricity fud people talking.

    And if you go further to the truth.. plant a hemp farm and save the forest, also build hemp houses which are co² positive.. beat that mofos 😀

  41. His comments are nonsensical. One day, maybe 2-5 years from now, when you look back at the crypto bubble, you'll realize this and how silly you were to think he was a source of knowledge.

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