The energy narrative is looking more and more like a power play against Bitcoin

Imagine if someone measured the amount of energy everyone on the planet used to surf reddit then equated that with the amount of pollution generated by energy companies in order to service that habit; then decided that it's the users of reddit who are at fault for that pollution. That's the argument being used against bitcoin and cryptocurrency mining today.

Now Micheal Saylor and Elon Musk are showing support for the creation of a 'council' to regulate the energy usage around crypto mining. Before thinking this is a good idea, keep in mind that imposing licensing who can and cannot mine to secure a system no one owns, was built to be decentralized and placed into the hands of everyone, and allows people to earn money with minimal upfront investment and almost no labor, completely undermines all of the benefits of such a system and makes the network more vulnerable to manipulation by private interests. All of this backed on the pretense of a study that was not peer-reviewed and relies on poor logic that would otherwise point the finger at energy producers for the creation of pollution, not users.

So, it seems that this may have been a ploy to centralize authority over the cryptocurrency by billionaires all along. As to whether they can convince people that this council needs to exist and can enforce who can and cannot participate, it remains to be seen. But don't think for a second any of this was about saving the planet, it was always about money and maintaining control over it.

What happens if this narrative successfully convinces the population at large that mining ought to be licensed and those licenses are priced way above the heads of any typical user? This is a tried and true method of how private cartels have already exhorted control in other industries for centuries past.

The entire point of bitcoin was to dis-empower oligarchy in the wake of occupy wallstreet. The only way bitcoin fails in this task is if its participants allow it to fail.