[carnitine]

I don’t get it. All of that energy expenditure not only backs the dollar, but as you say also provides goods, services and a high standard of living to millions of people. The energy expenditure of Bitcoin only backs Bitcoin.

[monological]

If crypto was actually adopted as a means of buying and selling real world goods, instead of just being held as a speculative asset, then it would consume much less energy and be more efficient than the entire system, namely the military, that props up the value of the dollar. And that’s just the US military. Of course, the reason why you’re able to mine in the first place is because we have peace, due to the military. So calculating becomes a little more complicated than just crypto consumption versus military consumption.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_usage_of_the_United_S...

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/bitcoin-emits-less-than-2-of...

[arcticbull]

How can you possibly imagine adoption of Bitcoin would end the US army? The US army existed for hundreds of years on the gold standard. World wars were fought on the gold standard.

Exactly, step my step, please explain how adoption of bitcoin would reduce military energy consumption.

[dnautics]

You are missing the point. When the us was on a gold standard, the army was not required to create the dollar's value. Now that the us is on a sovereign credit-based system, the might of the military is an integral part of the dollars value, both in the obvious sense that the military protects sea lanes and in the more subtle sense that government debt and the sustained credit cycle goes in no small chunk to the military.

[arcticbull]

The army has nothing to do with the value of a dollar.

[dnautics]

I'm sorry, but there is no other way to say this but that you are clueless on this matter.

[arcticbull]

Surely you have some citations.

[monological]

That’s not what I said. It’s simple. Bitcoin has value because of proof-of-work which uses a ton of energy. US dollar has value because it’s propped up by the military which uses MORE energy (more so because there is no more gold standard)

[carnitine]

The US dollar has value because the most productive economy ever to exist demands that all taxes be paid using US dollars. The army is a small part of protecting and enforcing that monopoly.

[imtringued]

You can say that having a working economy props its currency of choice up but by that logic the dollar and other government currencies are propping up Bitcoin which is dependent on infrastructure of the economies of those nations.