With the power requirements to run the BTC network continually increasing... what is the long term solution? It doesn't seem viable that it can go on forever like this. Anyone have good insight? It's easy to just assume... "well there will be cheaper energy in the future" or "BTC will just switch to POS".... I guess I'm looking for answers with a little more substance and detail. Thanks!
Im not a miner, but the energy costs are part of the miners costs along with the cost of their computers, other equipment, and their time. We as users pay fees to the miners for their costs. As the costs of energy rise, most likely the fees we pay will rise. At some point the fees could get so high that we send fewer transactions. We may end up only using Bitcoin as a store of value. If this happens, other more energy efficient altcoins will have to be used for every day functions like method of payment, etc.