The system does not need to be secured in a way that burns the energy of Argentina.
There are networks running right now that use the energy of a windmill to provide secure transactions, and more of them, processed in under a second, with no fee at all.
That's not vaporware; that's current reality. All Bitcoin miners are doing is perpetuating a system that has been very groundbreaking but is now obsolete in every way.
The cost of burning electricity in PoW mining is very visible. The opportunity cost of locking up coins in stake is hidden. However, the economic cost is still there. If a process truly provides a particular good or service for unconditionally lower costs then it will dominate the market. We shall see if that happens in crypto.
There are networks running right now that use the energy of a windmill to provide secure transactions, and more of them, processed in under a second, with no fee at all.
That's not vaporware; that's current reality. All Bitcoin miners are doing is perpetuating a system that has been very groundbreaking but is now obsolete in every way.