Help me understand bitcoin

[jason1637]

SvennoJ said:

dx11332sega said:

Isn't bitcoins etc , warm the earth?

Yes, it's speeding up its own destruction. Without all that (increasing) processing power, no more transactions possible.

And what happens if BitCoin 'succeeds'
https://voxeu.org/article/what-happens-if-bitcoin-succeeds

Basically you do not want to live in a world where BitCoin replaces Fiat money, but it will likely kill itself at some point.

As for banks failing from a solar flare knocking out most power grids. I would trust them more to have secure backups in underground facilities. But if you don't trust them, buy some actual physical gold and hide it somewhere. Of course gold may crash in value as well, but it can't be lost by solar flares or worldwide power outages!

Another thing to consider if the flippening happens (switch to crypto currencies)

At the highest level, governments will be hit hard, as they will no longer exercise the same level of control over the country’s currency. The idea of printing more money has been raised time and time again in response to financial turmoil, but that option disappears once currency has to be mined.

Doesn't sound like a problem. But now think about how we got through this pandemic....

Tbf as clean energy alternatives become more accessible miners will probably move over to using those, lessening environmental impact in the long term.