Our Blockchain Future

E24 Our Blockchain Future

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the virtues of self-rule and debate the state of our republic. Welcome to the Citizens Prerogative Podcast.

Discussion topics in this episode:

MVP and RWJ take a turn at discussing what they’ve learned to date about cryptocurrencies and the technology underpinning them: blockchain.

This episode makes the case for why we are likely to keep hearing more and more about these new financial instruments and why we should start learning more to be future-ready.

In a previous episode, we mentioned several exchanges. MVP has developed an initial fondness for Binance.US due to its features, low cost, and breath of currencies on offer. You can also access “staking” which allows your parked funds to earn a return, traditionally referred to as an APY, meaning annual percentage yield. Coinbase is a great option for those starting out who want to earn while they learn. To be fair, they have a Pro option that’s trader-friendly. I can’t get over the low fees on Binance however.

A serious watch item related to the long-term viability of large, decentralized blockchains is sustainability. There is an environmental cost at the core of these various coins, it takes energy in the form of dedicated computers in order to mine/maintain transactions happening on the blockchain. People do this in return for coins all over the world. You can do it right now and start earning Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other flavors from the gaggle of upstarts. Seems like the newer ones tend to give you more buck for the bang especially when you have to net out your electricity bill. Seriously, it can be a chunk of change.

Two recent articles examined the costs of production from an energy or carbon perspective. A keen point made by TechCrunch is that more efficient blockchains will likely be planned for the future and we would add that efficiencies in how energy is produced and transmitted will be changing in the future as well. So harping on the energy point might be moot, especially if mining is relatively less intensive than say, the existing banking system.
- “How Much Energy Does Bitcoin Actually Consume?” Harvard Business Review, 5/5/21.
- “The debate about cryptocurrency and energy consumption,” TechCrunch, 3/21/21.

Repeat mention: If you’re looking for a timely documentary to help get you up to speed on the general state of cryptocurrencies and blockchain capabilities, MVP recommends Cryptopia.

We didn’t get into it, but it’s worth noting that by owning certain coins one gains access to certain benefits like a vote in what updates or changes might be implemented for a coin’s codebase. We also did not cover Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) in this episode, that topic will make an appearance later on.

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“Various Cryptocurrency on Table” image from Pexels by Roger Brown.