Bitcoin is no lifeboat

In response to Dan Rearden’s letter to the editor Dec. 28, 2023, (“First rule of fight club”): be skeptical of all schemes promising sure wealth or easy living because someone is going to lose. His explanation about the cause of the falling power of the dollar is not as simple as he would want you to believe. We all know that money is not real (nor is crypto currency) but is instead, an agreement to honor a method of exchange for receiving goods and services.

What crypto peddlers don’t tell you is 1) It has similarities to a pyramid scheme; 2) It is not secure – recall the innumerable crashes of crypto brokers due to computer hacking; and 3) While he notes that the Federal Reserve “prints” money with the few clicks of a button, crypto “currency” is “mined” through complex algorithms that require more and more anonymous computing power. This is proving devastating to the environment. 

Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Index estimated that from 2020-21, carbon emissions from crypto mining was equal to burning 84 billion pounds of coal or 190 natural gas power plants or 25 million tons of landfill waster, not to mention the increases in scarce water resources required. This trend will only increase as crypto adaptation increases. 

Lastly, why don’t they discuss the reasons for them wanting your actual hard-earned currency backed by the Federal Reserve to create a more stable currency that is not backed by anyone?

A society built on creating exclusive lifeboats at the cost of others and the environment is what’s driven civilization into such devastating existential crisis. We need a new approach that is inclusive and just for all on this amazing planet.

– Dale Robinson, Bayfield