Cryptocurrency Electricity Consumption on Par with Mid-Sized Nations

Let me start by saying that I believe the developers who created the mechanisms behind cryptocurrency are geniuses. Honestly, I also admire Satoshi Nakamoto, the presumed creator of Bitcoin. However, the amount of electricity consumed for cryptocurrency mining and operation is insane. The "mid-sized nations" mentioned in the title are apparently countries like Thailand and Vietnam. This figure is based solely on Bitcoin, and there are many other cryptocurrencies out there. I haven't confirmed if all cryptocurrencies use the same mechanism, though. Due to the nature of the program, which utilizes mathematical properties that make it difficult to find simple solutions, it's almost unavoidable. Most of the electricity spent on mining is essentially wasted. Even when mining is successful, the result is just a "new number to start the next calculation," which doesn't directly fill anyone's stomach or solve any problems (though that's the nature of currency). I used to think, "With global warming being such a problem and energy consumption needing to be reduced worldwide, isn't it insane and wrong that just running currencies uses a nation's worth of electricity?" But nowadays, I feel like various AIs seem more concerning.