Bitcoin
Why AI’s Energy Usage Isn’t Demonized Like Bitcoin’s
That said, just like with Bitcoin, not everyone is totally excited about AI. And AI detractors have valid concerns: bias, transparency, privacy, security, validity, and (worst of all) stealing my bad art to make even worse art.
But to anyone who has ever been involved in reporting on Bitcoin, there is something very obvious that is missing from the AI hysteria, which has been Bitcoin’s political Achilles heel: energy use.
AI, if it is to grow as proponents believe it should, will require much more energy to power the data centers that make AI possible. Investment bank Goldman Sachs has predicted that data centers will use 8% of the world’s Total US energy supply by 2030 (above 3% in 2022), of which AI is a strong driving force. Additional research from French energy company Schneider Electric suggests that AI’s share of data center energy demand will rise to 15%-20% by 2028 (up from an estimated 8% in 2023). There are countless other projections and estimates out there and none that I have found suggest anything other than more.
Now, whether this energy demand is “worth it” is a pertinent question for another day, but why are there mountains and mountains of articles and ideas about Bitcoin using “XYZ country’s amount of energy” and not for AI?
Money, power, respect (the last one is the best)
Money: The path of all people.
There is hundreds of billions of investment capital invested in AI and its speculative future — as a proxy, just look at AI chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which is up 175% this year. Bitcoin didn’t have that when the hype started, and even now, near its peak, no one is actively looking for ways to invest hundreds of billions in Bitcoin-related ventures (aside from perhaps one of the Bitcoin ETFs).
With all this money coming in comes the big companies: Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and with it the power of influence they wield. These four companies are omnipresent, trillion-dollar giants and masters of PR. How many people hear the word “data center” and think, “Wow, what a waste! All that energy!”? Not very often.
And with all that money and influence comes respect for big-brained AI intellectuals. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg both say AI is world-changing and good. That comes with prestige. When someone with a crazy X tweets that Bitcoin is world-changing and good, that comes with prestige too, but of a different kind.
The worst case scenario is very bad
Humans are really good at constructing realities at logical extremes, especially on the bad side. Here’s a bad case for the world with AI: AI gets really good at art and then instead of making art, we give up writing, drawing and painting and we all focus on work.
As for Bitcoin, the worst-case scenario is… what? It crashes and some people you know lose a lot of money? Or maybe it succeeds and takes down the Federal Reserve and Bitcoin becomes the world’s reserve currency?
Both scenarios are long shots. In the meantime: Have you seen how much energy Bitcoin uses?
Besides, people have more pressing things to worry about. Their livelihoods, for example.
“It affects me”
If Bitcoin succeeds, some people will get rich, and while “fix the money, fix the world” is a common saying about Bitcoin, will our lives really change that much if Bitcoin wins?
Meanwhile, the main narrative around AI is that it will… obsolete my work? No thanks, we need to stop this at all costs.
The author and his friends fighting against AI.
Who cares how much energy AI uses? I have bills to pay and I need a job to make money. My only fear is that there won’t be enough of us to stem the tide.
On the other hand, many ordinary people are using AI to create art that they share all day long on social media. cheating on term papers or generate Wojak memes. No doubt many are also using AI for salubrious purposes. The point is that the usefulness of AI is obvious to ordinary people, mitigating any concerns they might have about energy use, in a way that the value of bitcoin is not. (Censorship-resistant payments or hard-to-confiscate assets don’t matter until the day you need them, at which point they’re the only things that matter.)
AI and Bitcoin: Same, but Different
Admittedly, there are some who have raised the alarm about Bitcoin’s energy usage, which are giving the same alarm to the AI. I I wrote articles (It is research reports) in defense of Bitcoin’s energy usage, and while I’m not going to write anything in defense of AI’s energy usage, I’m waiting for the day when its vast energy usage becomes the main argument against AI.
Though I suspect I’ll have to wait a while, because, justified or not, the relative lack of loud noises around AI’s energy usage can be quickly and easily explained: AI and Bitcoin are different.
Please note: The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.
Edited by Marc Hochstein.
Bitcoin
‘This is huge’ — Billionaire Mark Cuban issues ‘incredible’ Bitcoin and crypto prediction amid price slump
Bitcoin has surged again this year under former President Donald Trump Cryptocurrency boosts US presidential election in November with ‘revolutionary’ plan.
The price of bitcoin has surged to more than its all-time high in recent months, surpassing $70,000 per bitcoin and triggering a wave of mega-optimistic predictions about the price of bitcoinalthough it fell again this week to below $65,000 after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady.
Now, as Elon Musk suddenly breaks his silence on bitcoin and cryptocurrenciesBillionaire investor Mark Cuban called a California plan to digitize 42 million car titles using blockchain an “incredible step forward” and “huge” for cryptocurrencies.
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Mark Cuban, famous Shark Tank investor and billionaire owner of the NBA team Dallas Mavericks, has… [+] called a cryptocurrency update “amazing” amid bitcoin’s price slump.
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The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has digitized 42 million car titles using blockchain, it was reported by Reuters, through technology company Oxhead Alpha on the Avalanche blockchain and designed to detect fraud and facilitate the securities transfer process.
“This is an incredible development for crypto,” Cuban, best known as an investor on TV’s Shark Tank and owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, posted on X, joking that U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler could sue the state as part of his hostility toward cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
“The reason this is huge for crypto is because people who hold the tokens will have an app with an Avalanche wallet,” Cuban said. “Tens of millions of Californians having and using a crypto wallet in the next five years, or however long it takes, normalizes the use of wallets and crypto.”
John Wu, president of Avalanche developer Ava Labs, told Reuters that California’s DMV is “creating a wallet that you can download on your phone.”
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Bitcoin’s price has rallied this year, triggering a wave of bullish bitcoin price predictions from… [+] people like billionaire Mark Cuban.
Forbes Digital Assets
Last month, Cuban predicted that if the US dollar falls as the global reserve currency, bitcoin could become “a global ‘safe haven’” and a “global currency.” potentially sending the price of bitcoin to a much higher level.
According to Cuban, bitcoin could become what its most ardent supporters “envision” — a means “of protecting our economies… This is already happening in countries facing hyperinflation.”
The price of bitcoin has skyrocketed over the past year, largely due to the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, leading a bitcoin attack on Wall Street.
Bitcoin
Large Bitcoin (BTC) Holders Added $5.4 Billion Worth of BTC in July, Data Shows
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Bitcoin
Peter Schiff criticizes Michael Saylor’s Bitcoin hype by U.Today
U.Today – Renowned economist and cryptocurrency critic Peter Schiff has criticized Michael Saylor’s recent hype about the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies as a strategic treasury asset by corporations.
Michael Saylor, a well-known Bitcoin advocate and president of MicroStrategy, recently shared his enthusiasm on X about the growing adoption of Bitcoin as a strategic treasury asset.
Citing a comment made by Bitcoin investor Bill Miller in a recent interview with CNBC, Saylor tweeted: “We now have more companies coming forward and saying we will put Bitcoin on our balance sheet as a strategic treasury asset.”
However, not everyone shares Saylor’s enthusiasm. Schiff, a vocal Bitcoin critic and gold bull, was quick to respond with his usual skepticism. In a pointed tweet, Schiff argued: “Bitcoin is neither strategic nor appropriate as a treasury asset. Companies should not risk shareholder funds. They should pay dividends and let shareholders risk their own money.”
Bitcoin enthusiasts are not intimidated
However, Schiff’s criticism shouldn’t deter Bitcoin enthusiasts, who often take Schiff’s words with a pinch of salt. To put things in context, Michael Saylor began buying Bitcoin in 2020 as an inflation hedge and alternative to money. Saylor’s company, MicroStrategy, is among the largest public holders of Bitcoin in the world. As of June 20, it held 226,331 BTC, purchased for around $8.33 billion at an average price of $36,798.
Over the weekend, Schiff was surprised when 87% of the more than 11,000 Bitcoin holders who responded to his X survey said they would not sell any of their Bitcoin even if the price dropped more than 99% to $120. They said not only would they not sell, but that they would continue to buy even when prices dropped.
Schiff unexpectedly revealed that “the main selling point for investors to buy Bitcoin is its excellent past performance record.”
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $66,067, having reached all-time highs of nearly $74,000 in mid-March.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin Falls as ETF Flows Reverse, Mt. Gox Moves Billions
In a week of drastic fluctuations, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) has retreated from its highs and is currently trading at US$66,250, down 0.9% in European trading.
This volatility comes on the heels of a significant surge above $70,000 earlier in the week, fueled by former President Donald Trump’s ambitious cryptocurrency plans announced in a Bitcoin Conference in Nashville.
Trump’s announcement to fire Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler and establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve if elected president has temporarily sent the cryptocurrency market into a frenzy.
However, the excitement was short-lived as a series of events unfolded which caused investor sentiment to sour.
A significant sell-off of about 8% was triggered when the US Marshals Service moved $2 billion in Bitcoin for new wallets.
This move has reignited fears of a potential large-scale liquidation, compounded by lingering concerns over a possible Bitcoin liquidation from Mt. Gox. Early this morning, Mt. Gox administrator transferred US$2.2 billion value of your BTC assets in a new wallet.
Meanwhile, the US Bitcoin ETF spot market is showing signs of fluctuation, according to data from SoSo Value. On July 30, Bitcoin spot funds experienced their first net outflow in five days, totaling $18.3 million.
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) saw outflows of $73.6 million, while the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) attracted $74.9 million in inflows. But outflows from other funds left the category in the red at the end of Tuesday’s trading session. The total net asset value of spot Bitcoin ETFs currently stands at a substantial $58.5 billion.
In other crypto news, Ripple (XRP) is up 8.6% in the past 24 hours, hitting over 64 cents – its highest point since March 25, according to CoinGecko. data.
This rally comes amid a scheduled token unlock and growing optimism around a potential deal in the long-running SEC vs. Ripple lawsuit.
The crypto community is closely watching the SEC’s actions, particularly its intention to amend its complaint against Binance regarding “Third-Party Cryptocurrency Securities,” which some interpret as a positive sign for Ripple.
On a market analysis noteSingapore-based cryptocurrency trading desk QCP Capital wrote that while election headlines continue to dominate, several crucial macroeconomic events loom on the horizon.
“Election headlines will continue to be a key focus, but several key macroeconomic events are also on the horizon. Key events starting with the FOMC meeting on Wednesday, megacap tech earnings (Apple, Amazon, Meta) throughout the week, and unemployment data on Friday,” QCP Capital wrote.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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