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Is Bitcoin mining a waste of resources? There is no doubt that the answer to this question is polarized. Bitcoin opponents accuse mining of wasting a lot of resources on meaningless coin tossing, while supporters cite the example of gold mining, which also wastes a lot of resources on meaningless digging.
Supporters believe that Bitcoin mining is a huge waste of social resources, not just electricity. It also wastes manpower, energy, intelligence, and talent. Those high-spec graphics cards and the resources consumed in making them could have been used in more socially useful places, but are now wasted on a purely useless pseudo-currency like Bitcoin. The way Bitcoin is obtained is a crime against human society.
Opponents believe that considering the significance of mining and coin making, the energy consumed in mining is not a waste.
First, mining currently consumes only 1% of China’s electricity production, which is less than half of the electricity consumed by data centers across the country.
The purpose of mining is not to waste energy, but to make the coinage industry independent of power and become a real industrial sector. It is to consume half of the total human capacity, so that humans have the ability to make society function with only half of their capacity. The upper limit of the scale of mining and coinage is the sum of the scales of all other industries, so it is not a waste of resources.
However, the author believes that Bitcoin mining is not a waste of resources. Why?
Before that, let’s take a look at some of the behaviors that are considered wasteful by the public:
1. Driving to a place instead of taking the shortest route, you take a long detour. This example represents waste, which means there is a mistake in the management and allocation of resources.
2. When I got food from the cafeteria, I ordered 3 taels of rice, even though there were only 2 taels of rice. If anyone says this is not a waste, then please turn right when you leave, because we can't communicate.
3. Leaving the taps, lights, and heaters on. Some cities even light up some roads with little traffic at night for the sake of appearance. This example represents waste in the sense that if an activity itself is meaningless, it is a waste to carry out this activity. Excluding venting emotions or other special circumstances, leaving the tap on does not produce any value, so it is undoubtedly a waste.
4. No one would think that it was a waste to use incandescent bulbs for home lighting during Edison's time, but many people would think that it is a waste to still use incandescent bulbs for home lighting today. This example shows that whether an activity is wasteful requires considering the limitations of technological capabilities. Before stronger and more efficient technologies (such as cold light lamps) emerge, it is not possible to say that old technologies (such as incandescent lamps) are wasteful.
Let’s go back to Bitcoin mining.
1. First of all, is Bitcoin mining itself meaningful? I am afraid this is the key point of controversy between the pros and cons.
Those who are negative about Bitcoin mining believe that Bitcoin has no actual value, so it is a waste; those who support it believe that Bitcoin has actual value, so it is not a waste.
We can imagine: a password string consisting of a string of letters and numbers has no value in itself, but if a bank appears and matches this alphanumeric password string to an item in a drawer of a warehouse in the bank, then this password string has value.
Bitcoin can be understood as a password string consisting of letters and numbers. However, no bank currently uses Bitcoin to correspond to items in a drawer in a warehouse, and no government has clearly defined the applicable scenarios of Bitcoin. Private Bitcoin transactions are more like trading some kind of artwork that cannot be appreciated. So I think the actual value of Bitcoin at this stage is questionable, but this does not mean that Bitcoin will have no value in the future.
Bitcoin mining can be compared to investing in government bonds or pre-ordering an iPhone X. It is like exchanging the present for the future. There is only a difference in the size of the risk, but no essential difference. Therefore, Bitcoin mining should be a meaningful and reasonable behavior.
2. Considering the current technical capabilities, does Bitcoin mining consume more resources than what is needed to complete it? It seems not. But if you are still using graphics cards to mine, it is suspected of being a waste;
3. Are there any errors in the management and allocation of resources in Bitcoin mining?
Regarding this issue, as someone who has never mined, I cannot be sure whether there are any mistakes. However, even if it is assumed that there are mistakes in the management and allocation of resources in Bitcoin mining, they can be corrected and it does not affect the core content of this topic.
But a new problem arises here. That is, from the overall perspective of human social activities, is investing resources in Bitcoin mining itself a mistake in resource management and allocation?
This reminds me of some amateur scientists who are still building airplanes and submarines. However, I think that the difference between this and amateur scientists building airplanes is that blockchain technology is still generally considered a new technology in the science and technology community, so Bitcoin mining has certain scientific research and exploration attributes. As long as scientific research and exploration follow certain scientific principles and methods, it obviously cannot be called a waste. (Wheatfield Finance) |
