Firefix VS crypto...The same-old environmental concerns!

I know that it has been a rough couple of weeks in crypto markets and it is, of course, not the best way to start our new year!
Bitcoin briefly fell under the $40k level for the first time in months. Ethereum and others are showing similar negative moves. Luckily, Hive seems to be balanced for the time being. Although it went down, it wasn't that hard...
Anyway, it's Not a fun time in the market. However, it is those times when we can find out who truly believes in crypto and its great potential to radically alter the financial system once and for all. Those who understand what Bitcoin is all about, how it works, and how crucial it is for humanity.
It is too easy to meet Bitcoin lovers cropping up left and right as long as it is heading upward, but it is not that easy when it is dropping downward.

Only legit believers will continue to overtly show their support no matter where the price goes, simply because they believe in technology and fundamentals.
Technology drives the price, not the other way around. That's why they adopted crypto in the first place!
And speaking of adopters, a rarely old one is Firefox.

For those not familiar (if any!), Firefox is a famous open-source browser with over 200M users and it is one of the oldest adopters of Bitcoin and crypto. In fact, it has been accepting crypto for donations since as early as 2014!
Only a few people knew about crypto in 2014 and much fewer accepted it. Firefox was one of those...

Yet, several days ago, Firefox posted a tweet that it is still accepting crypto for donation via Bitpay. It might sound just an ordinary reminder for users, but the reaction to it was shocking, to say the least...

Many showed unexpected anger and disapproval at Firefox's decision to accept crypto citing that it is dangerous for the environment!
While it's a traditional anti-crypto argument, the question is where those angry folks have been since 2014?
Didn't they know about Firefox's involvement in crypto til today?
Well, this may not be a big deal for a regular user, but it is a big deal to see one of Firefox's founders "surprised" at the decision!
Yea... the co-founder of Mozilla, the not-for-profit responsible for the development of the famous Firebox browser, has labeled crypto investors and supporters as "planet incinerating ponzi grifters"

source

Now, besides being an extremely late remark (about 8 years after Firefox's involvement in crypto), I wonder whether he really means what he says...

"planet incinerating?"

Well, I assume he meant proof-of-work cryptocurrencies which consume a huge amount of electricity to mine cryptos such as Bitcoin, litecoin, and Ethereum (Ethereum is switching to proof of stake with the release of ETH 2.0)
As I said, it is the most repetitive and most traditional argument that has been used by crypto critics for ages. When examining the meat of it, however, I can bravely say it's nothing but BS. This is because it is based on the false assumption that "crypto miners completely rely on traditional power sources (Fossil fuels) for their mining activities and will continue doing so indefinitely", which is something that could not be further from the truth!
In fact, crypto miners are the fastest shifters to green energy sources due to economic incentives. In all simplicity, mining crypto with renewable sources is far more profitable and that simple and straightforward incentive is what pushes crypto miners towards green solutions- not to mention that most newly-created cryptocurrencies (such as BNB, DOT, AVAX, and soon ETH)are based on proof of stake algorithms, which don't even require a single Watt of electricity!
Well, let's get back to Bitcoin and see how the figure look like

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According to research by Coinshares, up to 70% of miners are using renewable energy sources (such as solar, wind, water...) to mine Bitcoin and that percentage is only going to rise for the aforementioned economic reason. This basically means that Bitcoin mining, which has been long accused of harming the environment, is ironically the most environmentally friendly industry to date! Many also expect that it might turn as great motivation to accelerate research into renewable energies and push it for further development.

When comparing this with the huge infrastructure of the global banking system and how much energy is required to process bank transactions and power office buildings, ATMs, and local branches,...etc, you can see how hypocritical those blind critics are!
Plus, bank managers (unlike crypto miners) are NOT that incentivized to switch to green energy nor are they blamed for the harm they cause to the world, whether financially or environmentally!

It is really puzzling is to see a "sophisticated" developer repeating those environmental concerns like a parrot without even bothering to check the facts!
Unfortunately, such clueless claims coinciding with a bear market seem to have managed to create a backlash from the "open-source" community of Mozilla, which forced the latter to reverse its decision

source

Hopefully, some balanced and reasonable discussion will take place within the Firefox community. I'm sure it will happen at some point but the question is "when?".
It was good for Firefox that it went ahead in 2014 as an early adopter, but no good to turn back in 2022!

Anyway, crypto is a revolution and it is totally natural to see some degree of resistance to it, though I wonder how long it will hold. I wish I could travel to the future just to see how those naysayers will behave when mass adoption eventually is in place!
I guess we're gonna see a lot of heart changes. It will be fun anyway!

THANKS FOR READING

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