[meowface]

This is why I don't like it when people call it a waste or meaningless. In my opinion, it's not a waste, but it is "excessively energy-consumptive". Sure, a lot of value is generated, but is that value commensurate with the cost? In the limit, what's the cap on this? Will Bitcoin mining consume 5% of the entire world's electricity in a decade? Is that really the best way to create a secure cryptocurrency? In addition to the potential environmental impact, what's the opportunity cost of that usage?

If Ethereum 2.0 rolls out and runs a PoS network without any issues for a year, 2 years, 3 years, what then? (Rather than debating the probability of that happening, for the sake of argument let's just hypothetically assume the transition does succeed and things run soothly for years.)

I suspect the community and devs won't even consider itas a topic for debate, though, which makes me think the cryptocurrency wars are going to get much more heated over the next 5 years. The cryptocurrencies you choose to use will be much more of a philosophical and ideological identity statement than it already is. Bitcoin-only vs. Ethereum-only vs. never-coiners. I'm genuinely pretty concerned it might reach the level of pro-life vs. pro-choice (vs. anti-natalist, I guess).