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Bitcoin is an energy crisis. Or not.

Good morning! This Friday, why everybody's arguing about Bitcoin's energy usage, what's left to answer in Epic v. Apple, New Relic's new CEO and how Big Tech's reputation crashed during the pandemic.
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Why did Elon Musk change his mind? That's been the question on everyone's mind the last 24 hours, after Musk tweeted that Tesla would no longer allow people to buy cars with Bitcoin because the company is "concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for Bitcoin mining and transactions."
There are few neutral third parties in cryptocurrency. People who own it have a vested interest in making it sound sexy, exciting, revolutionary, and above all else lucrative, because the only way the price goes up is if other people want in. And anyone who feels threatened by the rise of crypto — banks, governments, people who don't want their enemies getting rich — has a near-equal incentive to try and rain on the parade.
That's why the energy question is so contentious. "Is crypto an environmental catastrophe?" is one of the biggest, most important questions about cryptocurrency.
How do you argue for Bitcoin's positive environmental impact? You have to make the case for the future. And maybe squint a little.
One way this debate might end is if there's a shift in how blockchains work. Almost everyone seems to agree that proof-of-stake systems (here's a good explainer) are a huge leap forward in efficiency compared to the regular proof-of-work approach.
Musk is also still a believer, by the way. Tesla's not selling the billions of dollars worth of bitcoins it bought this year, and Musk said the company intends to use it for transactions "as soon as mining transitions to more sustainable energy." He's also looking at other cryptocurrencies that could be used for the same purpose. I'd bet on the second part coming true well before the first.
Week two of Epic v. Apple: Less bonkers, more bananas. (Literally, more bananas.) The week was filled with expert testimony on app stores, antitrust markets and yes, Peely the Banana.
But let's recap quickly: There are four things to take away from testimony so far, Protocol's Nick Statt and Ben Brody reported:
After the most recent antitrust hearing, Apple's Kyle Andeer pushed back hard on Tile, Match and Spotify:
Masa Son isn't worried about Big Tech killing startup innovation:
Coinbase had a huge first public quarter, but warned that the market is getting crowded fast:
Without an integrated solution that connects processes and workflows, customer experience suffers and productivity is lost. In a recent webinar, DocuSign and Forrester leaders discussed why an organization-wide, strategic approach to digital transformation is essential to achieving impactful business process automation.
On Protocol | Enterprise: Bill Staples is the new CEO of New Relic, as Lew Cirne steps down and becomes executive chairman of the board.
Substack acquired People & Company, which will help it build out its community efforts.
Jeff Blackburn's returning to Amazon, as SVP of a new "Global Media & Entertainment" group. He'll look after Prime Video, Amazon Studios, Amazon Music, Audible, podcasts, gaming and Twitch.
Amazon's also hiring 75,000 warehouse and logistics workers in the U.S. and Canada, and giving them a $100 signing bonus if they're vaccinated for COVID-19. And it's hiring 10,000 people in the U.K., across operations, corporate and AWS.
I bet you $10 that the single most controversial thing about post-pandemic office life is the concept of hot desking. In this brave new world, you don't have a desk; you just grab whichever one is available, like you're a college student flopping down in the library. Yesterday, Snowflake became the latest tech company to say hot desking is a big part of its plan going forward, and there are already many others.
As your friendly neighborhood messy person, I hate this idea. But more to the point, just like the shift to remote work made webcams hard to come by, the leave-no-trace office is going to require a big bag, some kind of organizer, a lot of extra cables, a laptop with long battery life (which means it's Apple Store visit time), and a really good set of noise-cancelling headphones because who knows when you're going to be sitting next to Phone Screaming Richard? Point is, your weekend project is to get a huge bag, and build yourself an office that fits in it.
Without an integrated solution that connects processes and workflows, customer experience suffers and productivity is lost. In a recent webinar, DocuSign and Forrester leaders discussed why an organization-wide, strategic approach to digital transformation is essential to achieving impactful business process automation.
Today's Source Code was written by David Pierce, with help from Anna Kramer and Shakeel Hashim. Thoughts, questions, tips? Send them to david@protocol.com, or our tips line, tips@protocol.com. Enjoy your weekend; see you Sunday.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated South Korea's semiconductor investment. This story was updated on May 14, 2021.
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