"As the activity it is certainly valuable to ensure the validity of the blockchain."
Not at the cost that it currently takes. Personally, I ascribe far, far, far less value (if any) to any cryptocurrency mining compared to using the energy for other stuff, or not using it (and not having the mark up on graphics cards).
"but I think eventually it'll settle down to some stable level that is acceptable to all market participants."
The "market participants" would only be those mining crypto, though.
Not at the cost that it currently takes. Personally, I ascribe far, far, far less value (if any) to any cryptocurrency mining compared to using the energy for other stuff, or not using it (and not having the mark up on graphics cards).
"but I think eventually it'll settle down to some stable level that is acceptable to all market participants."
The "market participants" would only be those mining crypto, though.