BREAKING(wind): Bill Maher Talks Directly Out of His Ass - WiM Weekly
BREAKING(wind): Bill Maher Talks Directly Out of His Ass - WiM Weekly
A weekly rundown of new WiM podcast releases and some food for thought
“There’s the other big secret about crypto that nobody talks about. This bugs me so much … All the progress that we’re making with green energy is being sucked away by crypto! Crypto uses 8% of total electricity. Their data centers, their mining, this nonsense of finding a number. I can’t even go through the whole thing, it’s so ridiculous what crypto really is.” — Bill Maher
Bitcoin deserves better critics. “The dirty little secret about crypto that no one talks about” is energy usage. Welcome to 2017 everyone.
Extending a bit of an olive branch, “crypto” is a grifter’s paradise. Bitcoin, however, is not “crypto”. Bill mentioned crypto mining, but given that all other proof-of-work chains are insignificant in energy consumption relative to Bitcoin, we'll assume what he means is Bitcoin mining.
“Crypto uses 8% of total electricity.”
According the the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, Bitcoin mining uses around 0.57% of the world’s electricity, leaving Bill’s data off by ~14x.
Dismissing mining as "nonsense" ignores that value is subjective. Bitcoin’s value lies in providing users with an honest, permissionless money that is immune from debasement and confiscation.
As we covered in a previous edition of WiM Weekly, Bitcoin mining stabilizes energy grids by serving as a “buyer of last resort” for stranded and wasted energy:
Energy producers face an ongoing challenge: balance supply and demand by generating the exact amount of energy needed to match consumption. Too little energy, and the system risks blackouts and disruptions. Too much, and resources are wasted, driving up costs and inefficiencies. Recent WiM guest Mitchell Askew explains the relationship between Bitcoin miners and energy producers in his book “The Conservative Case for Bitcoin” — “Let’s say you vow to [a] pizza restaurant that you will purchase all leftover pizza at the end of the night. However, you also vow that you will step out of the way when other customers arrive, letting them purchase as much pizza as they want. The owner of the restaurant can now produce as much pizza as he has the ingredients for, with full assurance that he will sell them all. Moreover, he doesn’t have to worry about aggravating “real” customers by not meeting their demand. It’s a win-win for all parties involved.”
Let’s check in with some replies on X:
Hat tip to Daniel Batten who has done a comprehensive deep dive on the common misconceptions about Bitcoin and energy usage.
This is embarrassing, Bill, even for you.
Speaking so confidently about something you clearly know nothing about is never a good look, especially when its to an audience of millions.
The good/bad news: Everyone gets Bitcoin at the price they deserve.
This Week:
WiM516 with Robert Breedlove (Conversations with Adrian Podcast)
"I was looking for a good answer to the question: what makes Bitcoin different than all these shitcoins? What was a historical example of something that emerged that was such a good idea that it just outcompeted every other idea in the world and became globally dominant? The track that I stumbled upon, was the discovery of the number zero … It was resisted ideologically; [and] was even made illegal at one point. But because the number zero was so [powerful]: you could make calculations faster, less prone to error, [took up] less page space, etc. Well, guess what? The merchants that adopted the Hindu-Arabic numeral system outcompeted those that did not. The idea spread across the world. It couldn't be stopped. The number zero also enabled the invention of calculus, [which] is integral to every single form of modern science … So we literally went from the Dark Ages, basically, to where we are today because of this unstoppable idea. Just this little idea that's very useful for individuals. I think Bitcoin is something similar. It just serves the interest of the individual. It maximally protects your purchasing power from being plundered by anyone else." — Robert Breedlove
Link to full episode: Bitcoin and the Inevitably Bright Orange Future with Robert Breedlove (WiM516)
Link to article: The Number Zero and Bitcoin (Part 1)
WiM517 with Ian Carroll
"When the food company—General Mills—that’s selling you the cereal full of poison has the fiduciary duty to the same guy as the Pfizer company that is selling you the solution to the poison, suddenly you start to see an obvious conflict of interest. What’s in all of their best interest? The banker’s best interest is for them to [first] create a problem and [then] for them to create a solution, and for them all to reap the rewards of us being beholden to them, despite it all being our money." — Ian Carroll
The full episode with the Ian Carroll will go live today (9/27/24) at 3:00pm EST.
We’ve relaunched the Clips Channel! Subscribe for highlights from episodes and other exclusive content:
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Next Week:
10/1 with Obi Nwosu
Obi Nwosu is co-founder and CEO of Fedi, and a board member of ₿trust & Gridless.
10/4 with Eric Weiss
Eric Weiss is the founder and Chief Investment Officer for the Blockchain Investment Group, and also sits on the board of directors at Core Scientific.
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In 1913, The Fed was founded in secret meeting on Jekyll Island, a small island off the eastern coast of Georgia. Around 2005, I read the masterpiece by G. Edward Griffin titled The Creature from Jekyll Island which explores the nature of money, the history of central banking, and the successful 3rd attempt at implementing a central bank in the US, namely The Fed. Finally, this November 15-18th, 2024 (in what feels like a ‘coming full circle’ of sorts for me) I will be giving a talk on the nature and history of money at the Jekyll Island Club in the exact same room where the now infamous secret meeting was held to found The Fed way back in 1913.
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