In recent weeks, the New York Times (NYT) has been facing backlash for its critiques of Bitcoin's proof-of-work (PoW) consensus. Since its article contained a number of factual and rhetorical errors, the news quickly spread on social media with more online comments pointing out these mistakes than NYT’s original tweet.

Hashpower secures Bitcoin’s $550 billion financial system and it's true that electricity use is unavoidable when it comes to traditional financial system, banking systems, and data centers. Bitcoin miners procure and pay for electricity in global markets and they use it for any legal activities, these activities may include clothing dryers, holiday lights, water fountains, or Bitcoin mining.

As a result of NYT’s critique to Bitcoin, a new hashtag and social media campaign called #StopThePresses is created. This campaign is demanding for the NYTimes to cease its wasteful printing of newspapers as it's heavily relies on physical subscriptions from mostly older readers.

The #StopThePresses campaign is a response to the NYT’s anti-Bitcoin stance, as it has also become a reminder that Americans have a reasonable right to pay for printed newspapers in the same way as Bitcoiners have the right to use electricity to secure its blockchain system. Consumers and readers want to be able to choose between printed news media, digital news media, and even Bitcoiners should be able to freedom use the PoW consensus system in a legal and safe manner.

The #StopThePresses hashtag has become increasingly popular, spawning a variety of anti-NYT memes across social media. It's clear that this campaign isn't meant to treat the NYT overly harsh, but rather to remind the company of all the potential uses of electricity and why Bitcoin mining might not be as wasteful as it first appears.



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