"if Bitcoin drops below $1,000, mining now becomes unprofitable, rendering a very large part of the entire Bitcoin mining infrastructure instantly obsolete."
If this were true, the entire shale patch would be obsolete and nonexistent, which is manifestly false. A bitcoin price drop below $1000 would mean one of two things:
- The cost to produce drops below the commodity price.
- The commodity is no longer mined.
Neither would be an immediate outcome, as the author suggests. Most likely scenario would be a shakedown of the miners, where only the most efficient would survive, as suggested by Stan.
RE: Not picking on Bitcoin, I love Ford's Model T too!