Bitcoin consumed 134 TWh in total during 2021
My personal opinion is that whilst Bitcoin is not <i>the</i> answer, many seem to miss the point of cryptocurrencies, which IMHO is, to enable a <i>permissionless</i> electronic cash system. Being decentralized is an important aspect of it, and TPS and time-to-finality etc are important metrics for any practical use, but the appeal of cryptocurrencies is that you don&#x27;t need the permission of others to open an account nor have to pay premiums to send or receive money. It is also truly global so there is no difference whatsoever between splitting a bill in a restaurant or sending remittances to your family back home.<p>I guess many people live their lives on the &quot;happy path&quot;[0] thus never really experience how difficult the simplest tasks can get. In the country I have emigrated to, to open a current account you need a proof of (permanent) address, and to be able to rent a flat, you need a bank account to pay the deposit---a Catch 22 that I was able to break only thanks to TransferWise and Revolut. Another example is cash being deprecated for convenience and hygiene reasons, yet banks being just as difficult to give a POS terminal to self-employed and small businesses (hence the emergence of Stripe Terminal and Square) yet alone marginalized groups such as sex workers. Neobanks and fintechs really make life easier for many, but they are still not as free as cryptocurrencies aspire to be, and to be fair, cryptocurrencies are not there yet either... I am looking forward to the day I can spend my stablecoins as easily as using my Visa&#x2F;MasterCard.<p>Hence, in the end, it may not matter as much whether some chains are more centralized than others or if stable coins are backed by the assets of some central custodians. Bitcoin is far from providing that, I think, but let&#x27;s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Happy_path" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Happy_path</a>