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Snake oil alert: BlockChain Industries, says Potsdam resident

Posted 3/22/18

To the Editor: It is upon every resident of Massena and the nearby neighboring communities to block BlockChain Industries. Take it from the nearby city of Plattsburgh who just became the first U.S. …

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Snake oil alert: BlockChain Industries, says Potsdam resident

Posted

To the Editor:

It is upon every resident of Massena and the nearby neighboring communities to block BlockChain Industries.

Take it from the nearby city of Plattsburgh who just became the first U.S. city to ban the commercial cryptocurrency mining practice due to skyrocketing electric bills. “Here’s Plattsburgh Mayor Colin Read: I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints that electric bills have gone up by $100 or $200; you can understand why people are upset.”

Plattsburgh officials said the ban is necessary to “protect and enhance the city’s natural, historic, cultural and electrical resources.”

The amount of electricity these companies use is greatly concerning. “Analysis of how much energy it currently requires to mine bitcoin suggest that it is greater than the current energy consumption of 159 individual countries, including Ireland, Nigeria and Uruguay. The Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index by cryptocurrency platform Digiconomist puts the usage on a par with Denmark, consuming 33 terawatts of electricity annually.”

These guys will literally suck the grid and you all need to be warned.

Furthermore, the underlying rationale for supporting cryptocurrencies is flawed and people need to be skeptical about various crypto currencies and their parabolic ascents.

First, as outlined by author and historian Neil Howe cryptocurrencies don’t fit anywhere in the currency spectrum. They are neither backed by some tangible asset or backed by the “full faith and credit” of any government. In other words when the few majority owners decide to sell their currency they can take down the entire system (1,000 people own 40% of the market according to Aaron Brown a contributor to Bloomberg Businessweek).

Second, Cryptocurrencies are mainly used to conceal illicit activity. Could you imagine this: “Welcome to Massena, home of the dark web of selling everything from fake Id’s, stolen passwords, and rogue states evading global sanctions.” Make no mistake about it-this is a dark money industry.

Third, my generation although like the techy and geeky side of BlockChain we desire a currency that makes all financial instruments transparent, accountable, regulated, and safe. Everything that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are not.

Lastly, the jobs created are 150 low-mid range salary and are unstable. The salary is 46k dollars including salary and benefits. If the amount of public money was transparent we could see how we could better provide stable employment and higher wages for work that does not take a toll on our energy consumption.

Scott Schulte

Potsdam