[jcranmer]

> It's designed to use the most democratic and ubiquitous commodity avalible.

Which is why Bitcoin mining is only feasible in the areas that have the lowest electricity rate?

> We produce about 160,000 TWh of power, ~50,000 TWh is wasted due to inefficiencies. Bitcoin using 120 TWh (0.25% of wasted power)

How much of those inefficiencies are caused by Bitcoin? My understanding is that a substantial fraction of that inefficiency is things like "there's power loss in running power from a power plant 100s of miles away" or "converting from AC to DC power induces power loss." In other words, Bitcoin isn't converting electrical waste into useful work, it's just creating more electrical waste on top of the power it directly uses.

> A lot of Power projects get scraped due to inconsistencies in demand. Random Ex: Texas power outages during summer peak AC usage. It's infeasible to spin up and spin down extra generators to meet spikes in demand. #Bitcoin fixes this by providing excess supply a discounted demand during normal hours that can be routed away during peak needs else where. Ditto for renewables.

Are you aware that the electrical grid already manages demand in large part by telling the smelters to stop smelting for a few hours? There's no need to invent new demand to manage existing demand.

[zMiller]

> Which is why Bitcoin mining is only feasible in the areas that have the lowest electricity rate?

Nope, not where Electricity is cheapest, but where it's opportunity cost is lowest. In developed nations with a stable currency this might be high, in others that don't have the privilege of printing the world's reserve to bail out bad decisions, different story. And that's what the market is reflecting.

>My understanding is that a substantial fraction of that inefficiency is things like "there's power loss in running power from a power plant 100s of miles away" or "converting from AC to DC power induces power loss

Precisely, most Bitcoin mines are remotely located right next to the power plants, partially for this reason.

> There's no need to invent new demand to manage existing demand.

No you need demand to bring excess supply.