Bitcoin mining generates immense heat as a byproduct, which has historically been wasted energy. Now, companies are packaging mining rigs as home heaters. While inefficient for heating, it represents a clever strategy of finding commercial value in operational waste, turning a liability into a potential asset.

When local currency collapses, companies in places like Venezuela must shift focus from core operations to creatively exporting anything possible (like salt or pallets) just to secure hard currency for essential imports like spare parts.

Governments fund wars with opaque money printing. Because Bitcoin cannot be printed, it would force leaders to use direct taxation, which citizens would resist. Its unseizable nature also removes the economic incentive of conquering nations for their reserves.

Solana's founder advocates holding Bitcoin not for growth—as it lacks cash flows—but as an insurance policy. It's a small (e.g., 2%) portfolio allocation that acts as a portable, censorship-resistant asset in a worst-case scenario of societal collapse.

AI's energy-intensive nature creates a new, powerful stakeholder demanding cheap power. This diverts negative attention from Bitcoin's energy use and aligns incentives for building robust energy grids that ultimately benefit Bitcoin miners as well.

The proliferation of local crypto exchanges in emerging markets has created robust, stablecoin-dominated trading environments. These function as highly efficient, alternative foreign exchange markets, enabling faster and cheaper cross-border value transfer than traditional rails.

The conversation about Bitcoin's energy usage often misses a key point. The network doesn't just consume energy; it actively encourages developing underutilized energy sources by monetizing stranded or wasted energy, driving innovation toward a more energy-abundant world.

In a de-dollarizing, low-trust geopolitical landscape, Bitcoin's core value isn't as a currency but as a digitally native, government-proof form of collateral. Unlike gold or treasuries, it's instantly transferable and cannot be confiscated by a hostile sovereign power, making it a superior neutral asset.

As AI agents become primary drivers of value creation, the ability to command computation will define wealth. Stored energy, convertible into computation, will be the ultimate resource. This makes finite, sovereign digital energy proxies like Bitcoin increasingly relevant as a foundational asset.