An Open Letter To Elon Musk

An Open Letter To Elon Musk

Dear Elon,

As I’m sure you’re already aware, the amount of energy needed to register one Bitcoin transaction is similar to going 6,975 km in a Tesla Model 3, and probably one of the reasons why you had to walk away from accepting Bitcoin in its current form. (1, 2, 3)

But did you also know that registering one Ethereum transaction equals 420 km and a Dogecoin transaction still consumes as much as 1 km? (4, 5, 6)

Let me instead guide you to Tezos, a Proof-of-stake blockchain where you can transact all that you want, since you’d only go the equivalent of 0.0025 km each time. (7)

I’m a firm believer in the society that we have created and in continuing progress. This means we can’t just backtrack our way of living and the creature comforts we’re used to. But just like you’ve shown with Tesla, we must be willing to think in new ways to stop climate change.

We can’t stop transporting ourselves, our foods and our goods. But we can do it more efficiently and exchange fossil fuels for carbon-neutral electricity.

This in turn forces us to think about how we use our electricity, so that the capacity we have is available for cars and other uses that we can’t cut away.

Your inbox must be full of messages from hopeful crypto enthusiasts right now, thinking that their PoS Bitcoin killer must be the logical next step for Tesla. As you usually do, I want you to think about an entire platform and ecosystem instead of a drop-in replacement.

The crypto scene has moved immensely since Bitcoin showed us how we can have a truly borderless, trustless, decentralized financial backbone. Since then we’ve had smart contracts, proof-of-stake and zero-knowledge proofs for on-chain privacy.

In addition, we’ve also gotten on-chain governance, making it possible to keep the same pace of innovation as you’re used to at Tesla and SpaceX.

As of now, there is only one blockchain platform that incorporates all of these innovations in a truly decentralized ecosystem, and that is Tezos.

Please join both the underground innovators who have created platforms like Hic Et Nunc and corporate bakers like Ubisoft in exploring what you can build on Tezos.

Sincerely,

Anders Langberg,

M. Sc. Vehicle Engineering and Crypto Enthusiast

References:

1. Model 3 achieves record low energy consumption in driving efficiency test
2. Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index
3. Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index
4. Ethereum Energy Consumption Index
5. Energy Consumption of Cryptocurrencies Beyond Bitcoin
6. Popular cryptocurrencies: Which is the most environmentally friendly?
7. Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake: the Ecological Footprint