[cyphar]

> Gold, platinum, silver and copper all have use in electronics manufacturing and jewelry.

From my understanding their "actual value" is massively inflated through a similar monopoly as De Beers for diamonds (except it's China as opposed to a single company).

I agree that BTC is a massive determent to the environment and so on, but rare earth mining isn't a picnic either. While all of those materials do have practical uses, their perceived value is massively over-inflated.

[midnitewarrior]

Yes, they are both detriments to the environment, but precious metals provide value. Not only do they provide value, but in many cases, once they are used, they may be recycled and used again. You get to amortize the pollution over the lifetime of utility of the material until it can no longer be recovered.