(THREAD) As the popularity of #Bitcoin rises, so does the scrutiny over its energy consumption and climate footprint. ₿’s transparent on-chain data makes it an easy target for intellectually lazy/dishonest climate narratives. Let’s take a closer look at what critics are missing. 
2/ Since ₿ is an open and transparent protocol, which is a key aspect of its financial value, one can roughly ballpark how much energy is being consumed to produce the amount of hashes to secure the network and add blocks to the ₿ blockchain. ₿ is an easy target to pick on.
3/ Most critical narratives try to make eye-popping comparisons between #Bitcoin and some other irrelevant service or country. However critics should be comparing it to the actual global service or asset it is dematerializing. danheld.com/blog/2019/1/5/…
4/ We often see ₿ compared to a payment network like Visa, or all tech companies, or EVs. And yes, if you don’t grasp what #Bitcoin does and how it evolves to be foundational, these seem like slam dunks. While emerging technology can be difficult to grasp...
5/ Saying #Bitcoin is too "dirty" is like saying cargo ships consume too much energy, compared to a merchant sailing fleet, and not realizing that cargo ships can carry thousands of containers full of millions of goods, with significantly less manpower.
6/ Visa and PayPal are *not* final settlement networks. They are payment networks that sit on top of the aging and dirty petrodollar-military-backed settlement system. They use central bank services, like the Federal Reserve (Fedwire, CHIPS, SWIFT, etc.) for final settlement.
7/ Without an underlying final settlement network, payment networks like Visa and PayPal are unable to move money between banks with finality, let alone across borders. Payments without a final settlement network are reversible. #Bitcoin payments are final medium.com/@nic__carter/i…
8/ #Bitcoin was designed to be slow, like a Fedwire or CHIPS transfer, so that millions of faster transactions could be settled for higher layers that sit on top of #Bitcoin. It is a foundation for global payment technology. It is not intended to be another payment network.
9/ Nobody uses Fedwire or CHIPS to buy a cup of coffee. It would take too long and be too expensive—not to mention those services have arcane business hours and are closed on weekends and holidays. Bitcoin is a 24/7/365 open Layer 1 replacement for services like Fedwire or CHIPS.
10/ Visa and PayPal are Layer 2 networks that, in theory, could settle millions of their daily transactions in a single #Bitcoin transaction, 24/7/365. To ignore this is to misunderstand the technology.
unchained-capital.com/blog/bitcoin-d…
unchained-capital.com/blog/bitcoin-d…
11/ Therefore, Visa and PayPal payments are akin to items sitting in cargo containers, in search of a settlement cargo ship. #Bitcoin is the "dirty" cargo ship line that reliably ships out, every ten minutes, 24/7/365.
12/ One does not grasp the net benefit of a secure and open Layer 1 payment rail when only applying first-order thinking. It takes time to understand it. Read @timevalueofbtc's layeredmoney.com
13/ Similarly, the Model T had similar criticisms when it was first replacing the horse and buggy. The automobile eventually led to better sanitation and was a net benefit which is still evolving. blog.greenprojectmanagement.org/index.php/2019…
14/ Every emerging, foundational, technology has net benefits that take time to realize. It is still early. Too early for most to grasp the unrealized benefits.
15/ #Bitcoin is foundational technology. It is as intellectually lazy and dishonest as to say "cargo ships are wasteful" before one understands that containers full of items are transported on those ships. One has to understand and consider the long term value proposition.
16/ If #Bitcoin only partially realizes its vision, it dematerializes gold mining and provides a net CO2 benefit. If it fully realizes its vision, it dematerializes the petrodollar and offer a greater net CO2 benefit. If it fails, it will go to zero. Either way, problem solved.
17/ Energy consumption is derived from coin issuance. This issuance process is finite: in fact, it’s 88.7% done and is structurally decaying over time. Therefore energy usage is going to decline over time. Read @nic__carter's coindesk.com/frustrating-ma…
18/ If one isn’t willing to apply second-order and third-order thinking to #Bitcoin, one cannot grasp its value proposition or how it would be a net benefit to society and the environment. ark-invest.com/white-papers/b…
19/ #Bitcoin’s critics are either intentionally making these errors in bad faith or are they are misinformed and distracted by their disdain of ₿ twitter culture. The latter may be more likely.
20/ In free societies, people are free to purchase and use energy for whatever they want to—whether that be for porn, video games or entertainment. There are no energy police. The goal should be to focus on and incentivize cheap and clean energy.
21/ Either way, if people want to criticize #Bitcoin for its energy footprint, they ought to take the time to understand what ₿ actually is and what it proposes to dematerialize. Without that context, environmental arguments are shortsighted and are made in bad faith.
(PS) Proof that Satoshi intended #Bitcoin to act as a slow final/irreversible, cash/reserve asset, while leaving much faster transactions to centralized Layer 2 service providers.
bitcointalk.org/index.php?topi…
satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org/posts/bitcoint…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash
bitcointalk.org/index.php?topi…
satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org/posts/bitcoint…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cash
(PS2) @danheld provides additional context on Satoshi's intentions, for a final "cash" reserve payment.
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