However, all of that energy consumption being used by crypto is at the mercy of a desperately small number of speculators, hobbyists, and marks. For what it accomplishes - the actual utility it provides, which is to say, very little - it is an astonishingly energy-hungry system. Even compared to traditional banking systems like Visa - which process millions of transactions every second to bitcoin's, what, three? - it is shamefully wasteful.
I think I fall into the category of folks that "hate crypto", though to be honest, the environmental factors aren't what really gets my goat. Not only does the entire sphere speak like either well-fed con-men or desperate marks (Framing critique as "hate", for instance, is a common tactic), but the basis of their technology is focused on taking the single worst aspect of physical existence - that there is only so much stuff - and porting it to the digital world. At that point, the fact that it literally burns away resources wily-nily is just, what? Helpful metaphor?
BTC has beaten my money market account by a ridiculous amount. As a store of wealth, it has done its job well so far. People keep saying that it's a bubble, and perhaps it is. My gut tells me that the Weimerica scenario is just as likely as a BTC bubble-burst. I like having a variety of baskets to put my eggs in.
My uncle picks pockets down by the pier and keeps all the wallets in a bag under his bed. This, too, has been a growing store of wealth, beating out my dinky little ETF accounts. Despite his claims, I do not want to "learn from the best". Despite my wishes, he encourages me to check out the pier anyway.
Some people will get fat from crypto. That doesn't change the fact that it is a cesspool.
It doesn’t address why you don’t find the arguments compelling. Do you think energy impact is completely trivial?