- Edited
Nah. The two are inseperable. You cannot have the Bitcoin (capital B) blockchain tech without bitcoin currency. You cannot have Etherium without ether. It’s digital currency. That’s how they work. Sure, some companies are setting up private blockchains using the tech (much like intranets) so the tech is clearly useful in itself but for this thread, private chains we can’t access or invest in are irrelevant no?
Transaction costs are coming down every day on Etherium and they are moving to a '‘proof of stake’ system (you pay 32 coins to become a validator which gives you a vested interest in it working as it should) in return for ether coins rather than the current '‘proof of work’ (which are the math problems you mention that are responsible for the energy usage concerns) so for Etherium (which I want to be clear is the only one I’m investing in and understand the future plans) that’s not a concern.