Ryan Grim on Warpcast

Ryan Grim pfp

The problem I have tearing crypto apart is that I don’t really understand it technically at all detailed level. My objections are all philosophical. It uses up a ton of energy so people can speculate and do arbitrage. How is that worth it? I’ve used it to pay journalists in Afghanistan and appreciate that but I’d rather all this energy be spent ending sanctions. What am I missing?

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Vinay Vasanji pfp

@vinayvasanji.eth

The energy argument doesn't hold up anymore outside of perhaps specifically Bitcoin, and even with that there are renewables and other novel mechanisms used for mining (though not yet at scale) Cloud infra and AI infra is likely to use up way more energy and water than crypto, and I presume you're using one or both in some way already

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shazow pfp

You'll be comforted to know that most modern blockchains like Ethereum don't actually use much energy at all (they're not using Proof of Work). https://ethereum.org/en/energy-consumption/ On a per-transaction basis, it's quite microscopic once we account for rollups and things like that. (Something that looks like one transaction on the Ethereum mainnet blockchain may actually represent thousands of transactions on a rollup.)

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depatchedmode pfp

Can you share your philosophical objections? The energy/speculation one is more of a technical objection.

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matthewb pfp

most apps in crypto run on Ethereum which is a proof of stake blockchain that uses very little energy, so that particular line of reasoning doesn't really add up anymore.

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Andy Jagoe pfp

to really understand crypto, you first have to understand money. most people don't start there

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SonOfMosiah pfp

@sonofmosiah.eth

I'm glad your biggest objection has essentially been resolved (except for bitcoin). Would love to see you turn your time to the (solvable) problems in the industry and culture.

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Purp🇵🇸 pfp

Crypto is cool or whatever ( and a great way to get around things like the United states stranglehold on the international banking apparatus) But to me the real meat and potatos of what this space is, is projects like @vocdoni which wouldn't be possible without a technology like blockchain https://warpcast.com/vocdoni/0x425d63c6

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kenny 🎩 pfp

the point is that your traditional money is backed by energy too, you just don't see it a dollar is worth a dollar because if someone tries to counterfeit a dollar they get thrown in a prison by guys with guns that's a gigantic energy overhead, what is the cost of having to monitor and stop all counterfeiting of all fiat money everywhere in the world at all times? mining covers that overhead in Bitcoin that's why people will often refer to it as "non-violent" money as well you replace guys with guns with clever cryptography + provable power expenditure to have a system of reliable money seems like a fair trade off, no?

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Alex pfp

@asenderling.eth

Think of it more like the deep web, a decentralized network that allows permissionless peer to peer activity. Censorship resistant and autonomous, but also incredibly transparent. Bitcoin might take up a fair amount of energy, but Ethereum is capable of processing transfers cheaper and more efficiently than Visa.

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nomygod pfp

just think of it as an evolution of the internet. it's not a final product more an infrastructure that can connect the world. ethereum is the world computer.

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Chainleft pfp

Crypto doesn't have a tech problem. It has a culture problem. Crypto attracts some of the most toxic people in society, and these people are dictating crypto's culture which puts normal people off. Crypto industry needs to be regulated even more than gambling industry so that it can kick off this toxic group, and only then could the real use cases make its way to the mainstream. (and yes, energy usage thing is an outdated criticism if we're being fair)

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vpabundance.eth 🟡 🟪 pfp

vpabundance.eth 🟡 🟪

@vpabundance.eth

Ethereum uses 99.9% less energy than bitcoin, so there's that. Also, you're talking about a system that nobody owns, but everyone can use. The value in that alone is massive. People cannot be censored with money. Here are some links to where crypto has done some great things for people in times of need: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-crypto-is-helping-ukraine-russia-currency-donations-transfer-infrastructure-11648065166 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-31/ukraine-s-crypto-banker-describes-how-war-is-changing-his-life

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Conway pfp

you’re right that the best use case is open payments but how did we get them? by creating decentralized systems that can operate outside of centralized corruption

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Evan pfp

You say you’d rather people work on ending sanctions than building blockchains. What do you believe they should be doing exactly and which sanctions? A lot of times they are building permissionless tools because they didn’t have any power with governments. Power within government is a brand new thing in 2025

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raulonastool.eth 🎩 🏰 pfp

raulonastool.eth 🎩 🏰

I reject the premise that energy is used to do speculation and arbitrage. That is the mainstream media understanding of what this industry is, but the mainstream understanding of the internet in the 90s was that besides acadmeics and nerds, the only use of the internet was for black market activities and porn.

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Tos Van Der Togt pfp

Tos Van Der Togt

Ohh and read Read.Write.Own by @cdixon.eth !

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Tos Van Der Togt pfp

Tos Van Der Togt

I would say start thinking about the possibilities of decentralized blockchains. Crypto is a strong financial tool which lives on a blockchain. The power of being able to do P2P transaction worldwide is crazy. It can challenge intermediaries and corrupt government. It will make e.g. the financial system more inclusive.

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TransferMole pfp

There are various game-changing use cases that crypto enables, let me list some for you: - Access to US dollar for people in countries suffering from hyperinflation through stablecoins. - Remittance payments without getting screwed by outrageous fees - Tokenization of Real World Assets, giving people all over the world access to them, removing barriers of opportunity in finance. This also can include decentralizing Energy for instance, allowing individuals to earn from their solar and creating vastly superior carbon credits than existing offerings. - And perhaps relevant to your world as a poltical reporter, DAOs allowing for mobilizing focus and capital from seperate individuals to lobby for something and combat the trend of how corporations have all the power in lobbying. In essence it can make everything in our financial system and various industries more efficient and transparant. The energy argument you mentioned is not really the case for Ethereum anymore since the merge in 2022.

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einsi.eth pfp

Crypto is mainly used by gambling addicts. Most of it has no real use case and is just blocking us in focusing on what matters. Bitcoin is a monetary system designed to do a better job then what we have today. Good money should increase on value over time. Just like the internet, it will become easier to use with time. There is an insane mount of people that work for banks today that will soon replaced with AI and on-chain, verifiable, transparent processes. When you take into account all the energy it takes to run banks, it’s veichles and the whole circus around it, it’s peanuts next to the energy usage for a more superior monetary system.

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