(Kitco News) –
According to Lyn Alden, founder of Lyn Alden Strategy, Bitcoin is seeing increased political support from both sides of the US and this could have major implications in tight races.
“Bitcoin was more quickly embraced by the Republican Party,” Alden said, “but we had one of the top Democratic candidates speak at the Bitcoin conference, and there’s a book out just a few months ago called ‘A Progressive’s Case for Bitcoin.’ . I think we’re seeing points where Bitcoin is not just seen as an adjacent conservative or libertarian technology and instead is one that at least certain segments of the political left are embracing more.”
Alden spoke with Michelle Makori, lead presenter and editor-in-chief of Kitco News at Bitcoin Miami earlier this month. He said this bipartisan support will be important when new legislation is proposed to go after miners or cut Bitcoin from the banking system.
“It becomes much more difficult to pass when you have at least significant minorities on both sides who are willing to fight for it,” he said. “I think it’s positive and certainly one of the most constructive takeaways from this conference.”
Bitcoin voters could decide close races
Alden also sees Bitcoin becoming a bigger issue during election campaigns, because it will be a key issue for a growing segment of the electorate.
“It’s not going to be, for most people, the biggest issue in their campaign, but there’s a smaller and smaller percentage of people [who are] single-issue voters about Bitcoin,” he said. “Given how tight elections are, especially in certain states, if you have three percent of the population willing to switch sides, or not vote or vote regardless of a candidate’s Bitcoin position, I think it’s becoming more and more politically relevant in whether it’s the next Bitcoin cycle or the one after that, and it’s generally positive.”
The energy impact is exaggerated
He also believes there is too much focus on the energy Bitcoin mining consumes rather than the productivity it generates, and the reasons are both economic and political.
“It’s actually one of those things where there’s public misperception around it, there’s political misperception, and then there’s some competing interests that can confound that perception from the political side,” he said. Alden. “I think we’re in an environment now where the existing system, whether it’s governments or banking systems, wouldn’t exactly be thrilled with a much larger Bitcoin network.”
He said Bitcoin miners are often the target of misleading environmental arguments related to climate change or energy consumption.
The impact of mining is minuscule
“When you look specifically at Bitcoin mining, that’s usually one of the most popular angles to attack,” he said. “Instead of someone saying ‘I don’t like Bitcoin, but people can own it if they want,’ they say ‘well, if they keep owning it they’re going to boil the ocean, so we have to take action.'”
Alden said that when people hear that Bitcoin mining uses as much electricity as Argentina, “that sounds horrible, it sounds like something is absolutely out of control,” but it doesn’t tell the real story.
“If you say that Bitcoin uses 0.1 percent of global energy use, it’s something like 0.5 percent of global electricity use, does it seem like we should pay close attention?” she asked. “Probably not, especially if it actually serves a new productive use.”
Miners do not compete with consumers, the industry
Another thing Alden said people need to understand is that Bitcoin uses mostly non-rival power, meaning they’re already installed in places where they’re not competing with consumers and other industries for price electricity elevated
“They have to find the lowest electricity prices, and what are the cheapest energy prices? Generally, power sources that are stuck,” he said. “Someone built a hydro dam and all this electricity is being produced and there aren’t enough electricity buyers around, so Bitcoin miners will come and they will say: “we will buy it for two cents per kilowatt hour and we will make use of it.” So the question is, does this hurt anyone else? No.”
Alden said that in the long run, the market will drive Bitcoin miners to cheap, stranded sources of electricity where they don’t threaten anyone else’s energy needs.
To learn more about Alden’s views on Bitcoin’s political and energy challenges, watch the video above.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee this accuracy. This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a request to make any exchange of goods, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article accept no liability for loss and/or damage arising from the use of this publication.
