Must-reads for August 21, 2018

Stop worrying about how much energy bitcoin uses (The Conversation)
The title of this piece is misleading but that’s the product of editors trying to game social media by getting people to share stories since few people actually read the whole article. University of Pittsburgh researcher Katrina Kelly-Pitou argues, “Rather than discussing the energy consumption of bitcoin generally, people should be discussing the carbon production of bitcoin, and understanding whether certain mining towns are adding to an already large environmental burden.”

‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Is Having a Hard Time Winning Over True Believers (Bloomberg)
Usage of cryptocurrencies as payments has slumped in the past several months. Transactions involving Bitcoin Cash, which counts Roger Ver as its spokesmodel, amounted to just under $4 million in May, down from $10.5 million in March. Bitcoin’s numbers were $60 million and $412 million, respectively.

As Lira Collapses, Turks Are Piling Into Cryptocurrency (ZeroHedge)
Eighteen percent of Turkish citizens own crypto, according to a survey done by ING back in June. Sure, crypto is volatile but, hey, it ain’t the lira.

Premier League clubs trial cryptocurrency as experts predict bitcoins will replace sterling in transfer industry (The Telegraph)
Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, Newcastle United, Southampton, Cardiff City, Brighton and Crystal Palace are all part of a pilot program paid for by brokerage eToro in a bit of brilliant marketing. The clubs were paid in some bitcoin. The Telegraph piece doesn’t say who the “experts” are or what they are experts in. Finance? Cryptocurrencies? Lawn care? No answers. The only people saying it will replace sterling are the ones from eToro.

After the bitcoin boom: hard lessons for cryptocurrency investors (New York Times via CNBC)
People lost money in crypto. They are sad. You can read their sad stories here.

Kenya electoral body to adopt blockchain technology for vote transparency (Africa News)
Africa’s seventh-most populous country is considering (not as definite as the headline suggests) using blockchain technology to allow presidential candidates to track election results. Last year’s presidential race was a hot mess (what, you though that was just an American problem?) and in 2007, over 1,100 were killed in riots following another presidential contest.