[gamblor956]

1) ASICs generate a lot of heat, so that problem is not solved.

2) People, computers, POS, time expenditure, currency fluctuation, uncertainty, economic crisis, and unemployment are problems which are either not addressable by Bitcoin or not meaningfully impacted by it. Bitcoin isn't some magical economic cure-all. It's just a means of exchange.

3) This is a straw man. Horse manure disposal was not a primary concern before cars were invented. The primary concern was how to transport goods before they spoiled. Improved cargo transportation technologies and refrigeration technologies changed the economic landscape, not cars.

4) Infrared radiation is the primary way in which heat is released in to space. The sum of all other means of heat loss from the Earth is currently a rounding error compared to heat loss by radiation. It would take an absolutely massive investment in technology to change that.

[sroerick]

2. Parent was simply comparing the infrastructure supporting the bitcoin netwrok with the infrastructure supporting credit card processing. The question isn't "is Bitcoin wasteful?", the question is "Is Bitcoin more or less wasteful than the current payment infrastructure?"

[fiatmoney]

3 is historically inaccurate; in the timeframe when horses were widely used, a fairly large amount of effort was expended in removing manure (& human waste, for that matter) in major cities like New York and London.