Really thats just the beginning. I think this rabbit hole goes far deeper than that.
Not only do big spenders like this monopolize most of the hashing power (risking a 51% attack) but you're also talking huge amounts of energy - can you imagine if Bitcoin WAS mainstream, the sort of resources required in order to maintain it?
Insane is an understatement. PoW is obsolete. Thing is, people who don't have the foresight to see the inevitable will not let PoW die without a fight.
$60,000USD per Month for just Electricity, IMO POS/POI has bright future.
Yeah, it's crazy.
I remember first hearing about Bitcoin when it was created. I had the chance to jump on board that ship but i decided against it - plus i just had other things to focus on at the time. Sure i regret it to some extent but i knew it was just a precursor to other things later down the road.
For many years people spouted mining and how awesome it was, and back in early 2013 i decided to delve back into the crypto world again and catch up on everything i had missed. It surprised me how many people were still spouting the same old rhetoric; Mining was awesome, it was fair, and it worked. I wasn't convinced; it was just blatently apparent that the only real people who gain from mining are those who manufacture the hardware, other than that, all the risk was burdened by those who made the purchase. Mining tech was hugely overpriced, and advanced at a very quick rate - It was a rat race with little gains i saw no point in participating in.
Then NXT came along - i nearly invested in this, but the Proof of Stake sort of put me off because it basically works on the principle of richer getting richer, sort of contradictory to what I thought cryptocurrency was about. NEM is by far the only system i think holds great promise.
