“We’re essentially wasting millions of dollars worth of equipment because we’ve decided that we don’t trust the banking system.”
Of course we do not trust the banking system, those computer scientist know nothing about the economy as it is obvious they are living in another world in which the banking system is reliable and honest with their customers while not being exploitative at all, but for us which live at the real world we can see all the supposed benefits the banking system have brought us and we are not willing to be victimized anymore, so without a doubt the money used on bitcoin is not a waste and if anything is the best investment ever, as it give us something we did not have for centuries, independence from the banks.