[deckard1]

I've often thought that, maybe, PoW crypto could be the Great Filter.

I feel like there is a good sci-fi book here. Bitcoin continues to gain speculators, continues to rise in "value", and humans are largely powerless to stop it. It ends up forcing humans to produce more and more electricity, thus heating up the planet in a horrible feedback loop. A crypto twist on the nanontech "gray goo" threat.

[nrp]

I think the sci-fi end state is an interstellar civilization that exists largely to grow an ever-expanding system of Dyson Spheres, harnessing entire stars solely to fuel proof-of-work cryptocurrencies.