Not going to get into a big debate on this one … but the market cap of bitcoin is $1.44 Trillion at the moment. Where did this “wealth” come from? Well from nothing, and it can’t be converted into anything physical or otherwise useful, so it is the currency aspect only. I don’t have recent numbers, but around 2022, the network was using 131.26 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. No idea what the cost is in terms of hardware and labour misallocation. That is an insanely inefficient decenstralised currency, so extremely unlikely to be a net positive.

Unlikely … as long as the price of electricity isn’t kept artificially low, and possibly even then. The use of AI has purpose, and is going to give something in return for that electricity. As long as the AI is used for a productive purpose, it will be a net positive.

Now replace “AI” with “bitcoin”, and the answer would change.