Read this if you own 21 Bitcoin or more
People often argue about energy consumption by securing the Bitcoin blockchain. Uninformed people argue that the energy consumption is insanely high and that Bitcoin harms the environment. People in the know argue that energy consumption is not at all that high compared to the energy consumption of current systems that perform all the tasks which eventually Bitcoin will perform (Bitcoin is better of course). For example running the FIAT money systems requires a magnitude more energy as current Bitcoin mining. So that's a stupid argument against Bitcoin.
But this is only a small part of the truth about Proof of Work. Proof of Work is often treated as equivalent to Proof of Energy-Burnt. This is parabolically rising at the moment, but in a few decades humanity will have learnt how to liquify enormous amounts of energy at marginal cost. Of course there is no upper limit of how much energy is put into securing Bitcoin. You could even say that it is a back hole which could possibly consume all the energy of the world. Theoretically this is possible. But you have to understand, that in reality this is not at all possible, because even now, let alone after a few more halvings, say in 2028 or 2020 even, there is not enough Bitcoin left to be inevitably created (=Bitcoin that can be mined=confiscated) as to matter any more. Already in 2018, and even more with each halfing, ultimately with each block, the amount of Bitcoin that can be confiscated sinks.
Once more and more people understand the nature of Bitcoin enough, even those millions of Bitcoin which are out there in custodial services will be secure enough to count as unconfiscatable. Once the unconfiscatable money is reduced under 50 % this gives the Bitcoiners an enormous power, especially once Bitcoiners of Last Resort (a term coined recently by Trace Mayer) have reached the 51 % mark. What happens to the value of each outstanding Bitcoin if the number of Bitcoin hodlers of Last Resort rises over 50 % approaching 100 % What power does this give those who are mining? Less and less! They have no say when it comes to the worst. This is why Bitcoin energy consumption will not rise endlessly. It will just be another way to earn some money, but you can no longer get rich quickly by it. Still, the Bitcoins to be mined will always be very valuable, but they have a finite value. The block rewards will stabilize at a (from today's view) incredibly high, but all in all very reasonable level. A level, which is basically controlled by the Bitcoin which are liquified, which means which are not hodled by some bitcoiner of last resort (I like liquified because by spending Bitcoin you actually cool the ecosystem). These are all the Bitcoins which are being transacted between economically independent peers.
I am in the space for over a year now, which is not enough to entitle me to give anybody recommendations, especially to those who know much better than me, what Bitcoin actually is. But from what I understand, there must be a sufficient amount of Bitcoin that are transacted between economically independent peers. As I said many times on twitter, you would not wish to see a hyperbitcoinization without a sufficient level of underlying adoption. There are some really greedy Bitcoiners out there who actually think of Bitcoiners as the new world elite. Let me comment on this too. You really mean it is a good idea to see yourself as standing above all others because you have knowledge of a private key? Being elite comes along with sharing. Holding and sharing have to be in equilibrium. For now it might be OK to share mostly knowledge about Bitcoin, more than actually sharing your Bitcoins. It might be OK for now because current price of Bitcoin is really nonsensically low to a degree that even I would feel slightly amused, if someone criticized me for not spending my bitcoin.
But this will not be forever. Maybe you already have enough money. So much that you will never have to sell your time for money as an employee doing something which is against your nature, just to make a living. Maybe you even have enough money that you can afford a top rated life style plus an arguably unfair head-start for your heirs. I think it is responsible behaviour to start sharing your Bitcoin by then. Spend it, donate it, invest it but do not only hodl it. The more it becomes obvious that Bitcoin has won this game, you should start setting your Bitcoin in motion. Don't exaggerate hodling your Bitcoin, it's fatal.
This is why I address this comment especially to those who have 21 Bitcoin or more. From what I read, Bitcoin is expected to reach 250000 USD in the next bull run, which will be naturally fueled by the halving in 2020. This happens to be <5 trillion USD which is something like the lowest acceptable bound of the total gold market valuation. So almost everybody in the world who is (apart from his [in case of a bitcoinization] worthless fiat of course) highly invested in gold (central banks), is therefore highly incentivized to keep Bitcoin below that level of gold, at least as long as possible, which is for one halving. And since we are already in the midst of 2018, then those 24 months until the next halving is really not that much time left to prepare yourself for what the next bull run might mean for you. Your 21 Bitcoin will then be worth over 5 Mio USD. By then you should have a lambo (hope it is a Tesla by then instead) and a house and enough to eat and have it warm and safe for the rest of your life. It is then time to let go of your Bitcoin (it is not a sin to sell/spend high=smart). Spend it as venture capital in China, found a Satoshi Nakamoto Graduate School in Africa, drop some bitcoin on kind people, or buy yourself a second lambo. Does not matter as long as you start actively spending your Bitcoin.
The OG Bitcoin Whales are not the future elite of people who control the world. Some people think they are, but this is definitely not covered by the Bitcoin Whitepaper at all. Bitcoin is a cash system and if Bitcoin as cash is held under pillows just to raise prices by lowering the supply, Bitcoin is meaningless. You can store as much value in Bitcoin to make your life as comfortable as you think it should be. But:
Don't misuse Bitcoin as an eternal store of power. Bitcoin teaches those a lesson who do. Because, Bitcoin is not intended to be a perpetual store of Power. Misuse of Bitcoin as store of Power is an attack against Bitcoin, which it will inevitably defend itself against. It is already widely understood that attacks against Bitcoin cannot succeed and that attacks are indeed lured by Bitcoin to strengthen its resilience, thus increasing the trustworthiness as unalterable log of consensus at the approximately regular pulse of 10 minutes. But even though Bitcoin seems to be luring attacks, in reality it does never encourage anybody to be an attacker. This idea comes out of everyone's personal responsiblity alone. If you are such an attacker, you can blame nobody to have forced you to be that attacker. Force is exactly what is beeing eliminated by Bitcoin in the first place.
But enough of this for today. Enjoy the cool dip these days. And use your Bitcoin to cool the space if it gets too hot again.
P.S.
Why is my twitter account blocked? I cannot even answer personal chat requests from that (handful of real) people that follow me. Hey Jack Dorsey, are you aware that by blocking my account I lose the possibility to communicate with my followers totally?? It is ok if you block me from tweeting, retweeting or liking. But chatting with people should be allowed, as long as they allow me to send them messages. Thanks in advance for correcting this. @AYogensha is my handle.