Reputation
Daily Ramble
Reputation is a funny thing. I’ve realized it’s separate from reality. Instead of representing the facts of a matter, a reputation is a collective perspective of an entity, whether accurate or not. It’s better when it’s accurate, but we’re fickle creatures and don’t mind inaccuracy in reputations, especially when an inaccuracy makes the reputation better fit our view of reality.
Bitcoin and Elon. That’s how I got to yammering about reputation. See, there’s this funny thing that’s happened with Bitcoin’s reputation. It’s called Elon. Bitcoin was starting to escape the “only criminals use Bitcoin” narrative. Then the internet’s heavyweight came in and seized on an opportunity to scapegoat Bitcoin’s energy use to his advantage. As proof, I was on a call last night speaking to potential Sazmining investors. They were worried about investing in the projects we have queued up because they perceive risk with Bitcoin mining not done with “green” energy. In less than 24 hours, the meme lord’s tweet has infected the reputation of Bitcoin adversely.
Does it matter that 60%+ of Bitcoin is mined using renewable energy already, or that Christmas lights use more energy, or that the energy Bitcoin consumes would otherwise be wasted, or that Bitcoin is being used to protect individuals worldwide from having their value stolen through inflation, or that the total energy consumption of Bitcoin is a rounding error on the energy wasted each year? Of course not. People are worried about the climate — understandably — and the majority don’t understand Bitcoin. Even journalists find it easier to rag on Bitcoin’s energy than explain it to the public. Bitcoin is the scapegoat du jour. God bless our whipping boy, cause where would we be without something to blame?
But it doesn’t matter. Bitcoin has a funny way of having the last laugh at all those who’ve attempted to dance on its grave. The attempts to push ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) into Bitcoin mining will be another gnat that Bitcoin swats away — another forgotten yowl of rage in Bitcoin’s journey. Not that we shouldn’t be ESG in our approach to business and life. It’s just that we don’t need to do anything for Bitcoin to be ESG friendly. Why? Because Bitcoin mining will gravitate towards renewable energy without intervention. First, Bitcoin will consume all the stranded and underutilized energy on the grid — it’s the cheapest after all. This first phase of Bitcoin mining hasn’t been completed, and we already have 60% renewable energy in the mix. Second, solar energy is the lowest cost of power. Bitcoin mining and solar energy will inevitably collide. The math works. It’ll take some time to figure out how to tie the knot between Bitcoin, solar, and batteries, but we humans like to bring math into reality when profit pencils.
Reputation is easy to lose but hard to recover. But it’ll happen. Bitcoin’s proven that time and time again.
Favorite Things on the Interwebs Today
Does anyone else think this is weird?
Bitcoin Price Prediction
Yesterday: $45.5k - $54k
Today: $47k - $54k
Weekend: $47k - $54k
Bitcoin is still treading water after the giant move on Wednesday. That’s to be expected. Everyone in the market seems to be still dusting themselves off, not quite ready to sit down and start trading again. That said, the fact that the market is holding its ground above $50k without any further selling seems to suggest we’ll get a bounce up to at least $54k. Once we get there, we’ll see if the bulls have the confidence to keep pushing or if the bears now command the market. The best-case scenario, and most likely, is a fairly flat weekend of trading between $47k and $54k, with a strong chance of reversal going into next week.
Bitcoin Q & A
Q: How can I get “green” Bitcoin?
A: You can’t.
The idea of “green” bitcoin is like getting a “green” electron to run your home. “Green,” or renewable energy, can produce electrons but once the electrons are on the electric grid, they intermingle and become impossible to tell apart. The same is true of Bitcoin. New bitcoin can be mined using renewable energy, but once they are being sent around the network, they become indistinguishable from other Bitcoin.
Thanks for reading,
Kent
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