Source for those wondering. I do agree on some points, but with respect, I believe the article is an overreaction. I will concede that energy consumption and by extension global warming are serious issues and if everyone just stopped using power-hungry cryptos - which unfortunately aren’t just Bitcoin and Etherum, but most of them - I’d be very happy indeed.

As for the hardware price hikes: no disagreement there. Fuck every single person who bought GeForce and Radeon cards in bulk just to have them at max capacity 24/7 and then expect the market to buy them back with extreme wear and tear. I believe most people who tried to build a decent PC in the past few years will agree.

That said, I don’t think we should start boycotting cryptos just yet. From my point of view, I much prefer having control of my money as opposed to having banks take care of my very livelihood. Banks fail and internet banking is, in my opinion, still shit. Hands up if you’ve ever accidentally deleted your digital certificate for online banking and had to go through the process to re-apply for one. Or how many of you have to type in more than one password to log in? Speaking of…

If you live in Europe, you might have heard of the PSD2 directive. I won’t go into details, but what it boils down to is that in most cases, you now need a phone app, usually your bank’s, to purchase ANYTHING online and I hate that. Don’t have an android or apple phone? Boned. Don’t have google services on your phone? Boned. Don’t have a phone, period? What are you even doing online, you pleb? It’s because of this directive alone that I’ve started using cryptos more than I did before. (Thanks, EU)

Cryptocurrency does serve a purpose. Our existing payment systems are starting to get cumbersome and outdated. Cryptos might not be the perfect solution, but until one comes along, I think it’s the best we’ve got right now. (This got a little long, sorry)