Back in 2015, the Concord Monitor ran a front page feature on Keene's Bitcoin Vending Machine (BVM). David Brooks, who writes their "Granite Geek" column has been following the world's first cryptocurrency for a while, and also wrote a piece when Concord got its own BVM located at Area 23, a libertarian-owned bar.
Now, Area 23 and the Concord BVM are back in the Monitor, with a piece published Friday in the Granite Geek column about why very few people are actually spending bitcoin these days.
Brooks' gets it right when pointing out that people are reticent to spend a thing with a tendency to go up in value. However, he brings up a supposed environmental objection to the power consumed by the world's bitcoin miners, claiming mining consumes significant power. I'd ask, what about all the banking infrastructure? How much power do their countless buildings with their lights and computers consume globally? I'd be willing to bet it's FAR more than bitcoin - to the point of being incalculable. Cryptocurrency decentralizes money and threatens that old structure.
If it gets too expensive to run miners, people will stop. Meanwhile, there's no need to fear power will run out. Necessity is the mother of invention and energy is neither created or destroyed. The market will keep finding ways to make energy cleaner, cheaper, and more efficient. Cryptocurrencies' rise may further such development.
Thanks to David Brooks for his story. People are talking about bitcoin!