I´m tired of hearing the argument "but Bitcoin wastes more energy than
a whole country..." all over the mainstream media.
Here are a few reasons why the energy that is consumed by Bitcoin mining is not wasted:
1. The energy that is consumed by Bitcoin mining is the foundation of the security of the network
2. Proof-of-work is superior to other consensus algorithms like Proof-of-Stake and offers less attack vectors
3. Fiat currencies are supposedly backed by the power of the state... meanwhile the US military consumes more energy than Bitcoin mining per year
(this is a comparison of the military of a single country compared to a truly global currency)
4. No one is talking about the enormous costs of transporting fiat money, securing it and printing it in the first place
5. The mining of other commodities is extremely energy-intensive as well
If you take all these factors into account, Bitcoin may actually be less energy-intensive than traditional
fiat currencies. Besides, many mining companies have set up their operations in countries with an abundance
of renewable energies like Canada or Iceland. The days where Bitcoin was solely mined in rural Mongolia and China
may finally be behind us
Debunking the debunking
1. This point doesn't tell us anything. The energy consumed could be twice or twenty times as much and you could still claim the same
2. The superiority of the PoW model is not evident. PoW may be better than some PoS implementations but it is by far more energy-hungry
3. You can compare only comparable things. Comparing the energy consumption of the US military with Bitcoin mining is meaningless
4. Most money today exists in cashless form anyway, so this argument doesn't hold either
5. See point 3
In a nutshell, you have picked up some as random as irrelevant points and then proceeded to conclude that Bitcoin "may actually be less energy-intensive than traditional fiat currencies". Your only argument which can theoretically make sense is about security advantage of PoW over PoS, but, first, that remains to be seen, and, second, that has nothing to do with fiat currencies. Try better next time