Cryptocurrencies are subject to what is known as the Scalability Trilemma. This means that a given crypto can only optimize for two out of the three variables below. The more decentralized and secure a network is, the less scalable it becomes. The more secure and scalable a network is, the less decentralized it becomes. You get the idea. What the protocol of a given cryptocurrency optimizes for is at the heart of that cryptocurrency’s use case – store of value, improve transactions efficiency, enable smart contracts, etc. – and one of the externalities of these optimization decisions tends to be the amount of energy ... (full story)