Copypasted the cryptobro comment by [@chadhominem](/u/chadhominem) (now banned)
Putting my crypto fedora on. Most criticisms of NFT’s energy consumption are rooted in a deep misunderstanding of blockchains and specifically Ehtereum, and follow the exact same logic as other reactionary arguments putting focus on individual actions over systemic changes ala vegetarianism, turning your lights off, recycling, buying a hybrid etc.
Ethereum has about the same carbon footprint as Youtube yet you don’t see 10,000 word think-pieces by genX luddites about how it’s warming the planet. Actually you see the exact opposite and it’s quite interesting to see. The same people who say (correctly) it’s wrong to shame people for watching Youtube/Netflix despite their massive energy consumption and resulting emissions - are the same who criticize artists use of blockchain to sell NFT’s. And you’re lying if you say Youtube serves some higher purpose than blockchain - literally burning through a propane tank worth of CO2 to watch PragerU and twerking TikTok compilations.
If you’re talking about Bitcoin then sure, that’s an actual criticism given its massive footprint, POW system, and literal zero technical functionality other than a speculative currency. But most leftists don’t understand the difference between the blockchains and come off as old man yells at cloud, all while libertarian weirdos take control of a pretty revolutionary technology. Ethereum is at least transparently moving towards a POS system that drastically reduces its energy use whereas Youtube does the opposite and is owned by Google who donates to republicans, works with ICE/DOD, you know the works.
The truth of the matter is both are dumb. Both Youtube and ETH are a microcosm of our overall global energy consumption - however the world is powered is how the internet is powered and right now that’s fossil fuels. This criticism is literally telling people to use less straws when they drive their escalades to the starbucks down the street. Let the artists get their bag and go kidnap an oil exec.
wait does one single blockchain use as much power as the entire largest video streaming platform on the planet? the one that's serving content to like 2 billion people rofl
i guess losing money on swapping funney monkye back and forth is just as valuable
As I said to the chud at the time, it's completely ridiculous to compare youtube to fucking crypto currency:
"Youtube is free to watch/open access for anyone to post (YouTube’s shitty copywrite system and moderation notwithstanding)
Ehtereum, unless I’m mistaken, is literally a form of currency - decentralized, but, with prices/the current system how they are, it’s effecivaly the same as owning stock.
Partaking in the proliferation of an alternative, completely unnecessary, but equally exploitative and status quo maintaining currency, on which capitalism is further supported, is much worse, to me, than a free system of millions of hours of entertainment/education, which allows for personal creative expression as well. No one has to partake in Ehtereum; it’s not like normal currency in which, yes, we must gain and use it to literally avoid dying and starving. Ehtereum is completely superfluous, and a luxury, which offers nothing, or next to nothing, comparatively."
Copypasted the cryptobro comment by [@chadhominem](/u/chadhominem) (now banned)
Putting my crypto fedora on. Most criticisms of NFT’s energy consumption are rooted in a deep misunderstanding of blockchains and specifically Ehtereum, and follow the exact same logic as other reactionary arguments putting focus on individual actions over systemic changes ala vegetarianism, turning your lights off, recycling, buying a hybrid etc.
Ethereum has about the same carbon footprint as Youtube yet you don’t see 10,000 word think-pieces by genX luddites about how it’s warming the planet. Actually you see the exact opposite and it’s quite interesting to see. The same people who say (correctly) it’s wrong to shame people for watching Youtube/Netflix despite their massive energy consumption and resulting emissions - are the same who criticize artists use of blockchain to sell NFT’s. And you’re lying if you say Youtube serves some higher purpose than blockchain - literally burning through a propane tank worth of CO2 to watch PragerU and twerking TikTok compilations.
If you’re talking about Bitcoin then sure, that’s an actual criticism given its massive footprint, POW system, and literal zero technical functionality other than a speculative currency. But most leftists don’t understand the difference between the blockchains and come off as old man yells at cloud, all while libertarian weirdos take control of a pretty revolutionary technology. Ethereum is at least transparently moving towards a POS system that drastically reduces its energy use whereas Youtube does the opposite and is owned by Google who donates to republicans, works with ICE/DOD, you know the works.
The truth of the matter is both are dumb. Both Youtube and ETH are a microcosm of our overall global energy consumption - however the world is powered is how the internet is powered and right now that’s fossil fuels. This criticism is literally telling people to use less straws when they drive their escalades to the starbucks down the street. Let the artists get their bag and go kidnap an oil exec.
wait does one single blockchain use as much power as the entire largest video streaming platform on the planet? the one that's serving content to like 2 billion people rofl
i guess losing money on swapping funney monkye back and forth is just as valuable
They like the compare themselves to VISA too. Like, VISA is several orders of magnitude more efficient than even the most ecofriendly blockchain
deleted by creator
As I said to the chud at the time, it's completely ridiculous to compare youtube to fucking crypto currency:
"Youtube is free to watch/open access for anyone to post (YouTube’s shitty copywrite system and moderation notwithstanding)
Ehtereum, unless I’m mistaken, is literally a form of currency - decentralized, but, with prices/the current system how they are, it’s effecivaly the same as owning stock.
Partaking in the proliferation of an alternative, completely unnecessary, but equally exploitative and status quo maintaining currency, on which capitalism is further supported, is much worse, to me, than a free system of millions of hours of entertainment/education, which allows for personal creative expression as well. No one has to partake in Ehtereum; it’s not like normal currency in which, yes, we must gain and use it to literally avoid dying and starving. Ehtereum is completely superfluous, and a luxury, which offers nothing, or next to nothing, comparatively."
Youtube uses a huge amount of computing resources because it's a massive video hosting service that uses those resources to deliver the functionality
Crypto uses a huge amount of computing resources because the nobody-trust-anybody-else algorithm requires proof of capital
These are the same