The Norwegian government has decided to end energy subsidies for cryptocurrency mining, which has been covered in great depth in Forbes, Bloomberg and throughout ‘the crypto media’.
I have taken the position that I’m pro cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin but against their increasing energy consumption.
It is, however, absolutely legitimate for him to argue that governments should stay out of economics. But that’s an argument for libertarianism, not Bitcoin and the enormous energy consumption.
Opposite me, you find Bitcoin evangelists led by Andreas M. Antonopoulos aka Mr. Bitcoin. I have great admiration and respect for Andreas. His arguments for Bitcoin, his analogies and his storytelling is fun, exciting and concise and I strongly recommend you to check out his videos whether you're for or against Bitcoin. I also had him over for the conference Oslo Blockchain Day in 2017 where I had the pleasure of getting to knowing him personally.
But — when he speaks about the Bitcoin energy consumption, I can’t let it slide just because I like the guy. These are some worrisome arguments he presents, which I believe is destroying Bitcoin long term.
Andreas argues that “We must decide if we are going to start prescribing to markets what is a good or bad use of energy.” “The real problem is, who decides?”
Applying decisions on what markets should do is called politics. It’s not something new, and it’s used by and supported by most people worldwide. A government elected by the people applies policies to form its country, and maybe even the direction of the world.
What Andreas is saying is, the governments shouldn’t start applying regulations to markets. But all countries have a combination of tolls, tariffs, fees, regulation to influence and control the markets. Again, it’s not something new.
It is, however, absolutely legitimate for him to argue that governments should stay out of economics. But that’s an argument for libertarianism, not Bitcoin and the enormous energy consumption.
It’s hard for Bitcoin to win the hearts of the people if what you’re selling is your libertarian views, and saying to everyone else that their views are wrong. Many might be pro Bitcoin. But if it’s only backed by libertarian ideas, you’re limiting the potential impact of Bitcoin. You have to make Bitcoin feel right for socialists, conservatives, liberals and all people, for all people to support Bitcoin.
Andreas ends his reasoning with “If you determine for everyone that ‘this use of energy is bad’, ‘this use of energy is good,’ you are a dictator.”
Is he saying that If you support controlling markets i.e. politics, you’re a dictator? I would say that this is quite a stretch. I would also argue that as long as all of you sit on your high libertarian horse, we’re unable to have a real discussion about Bitcoin and its future.
Come down and let's try to solve this together.
Image source: youtube.com
