[strangeattractr]

Bitcoin enthusiasts often say this because they know the energy question is one that Bitcoin can never answer but that doesn't mean it's a good one.

The US has national interests economic and strategic that exist independently of the reserve status of the US dollar. The sprawling US military infrastructure does not exist to preserve the status of the dollar, it exists to protect these interests. The US doesn't operate bases in Germany and Japan for the dollar. Or do you really believe that should Bitcoin replace the dollar as the international reserve asset, these military bases around the world would be closed down?

The importance of the petrodollar is vastly overstated and the reserve status of the dollar has far more to do with the liberal attitude the US takes to foreign capital flows and the size and depth of US economy and consequently its capital markets. Mercantilist economies such as Japan and China would be unwilling to accept foreign capital flows appreciating their currencies and making their exports more expensive largely because of the domestic political issues this would cause.