[lukifer]

I view the PoW problem as being a subset of a broader problem with otherwise-efficient markets: there are often game-theoretic incentives to be intentionally inefficient. An example from nature is a peacock's tail, wasting resources to signal genetic fitness [0]; an example from consumer products is the Veblen Good [1] (aka conspicuous consumption), where wealth is wasted to signal status.

At minimum, I think we need a carbon tax (ideally paired with a revenue-neutral dividend), which might alter the incentives for crypto mining. But I don't think it would be unreasonable for industrialized nations to ban useless PoW operations outright. While I've read cogent explanations of PoS having game-theoretic shortcomings relative to PoW, given the growth of bespoke ASICs and the capital requirements of modern mining operations, PoW seems to me to be indistinguishable from PoS with extra steps, while also being an ecological nightmare.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_theory#Sexual_selec...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good