Generating Bitcoins is a waste of energy and un-necessary damage to the environment. (Though some bitcoin `farms' (ie shelved arrays of generator custom mini PCs) are based in Iceland where there is surplus geo- thermal based electric power, where other companies more usefuly smelt aluminium).
I recall crypto- currency `mining' depends on searching for large primes or similar ? Maybe those numbers could also be used for more useful cryptographys ? beyond junk non fungible tokens pushed by wasters in the art hype business.
I don't touch crypto- currencies: Averse to traders who want anonymity for drugs, guns, porn, & data blackmailer ransomware. I won't waste time with clueless suckers & get rich/ broke quick gamblers.
Bitcoin messiahs hope to escape the tyranny of national government currency control, & big brother monitoring of electric currency (eg credit & debit card & e-banking), to an alternate world ... where most users will remain clueless, vulnerable, & won't operate their own direct bitcoin trades, but use intermediary companies. Those intermediaries would would abuse their power, just as all monopolies do, eg Standard Oil, Microsoft, Google etc.
Bitcoin: Out of the frying pan into the fire.
By comparison gold is also wasted as currency:
(An example of electronic industry practice: British Telecom's frequency multiplex cards used to be specified to just 10 card insertions: Theory from planning managers was technicians would first analyse signal levels at test points before card removal & insertion of alternates, but in practice technicians swaped cards for go / no go tests, quicker than standing between hot racks in summer, with giant hot oscilloscopes.
Other virtual `currencies':en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cryptocurrencies
PS:wikipedia: What Is SHA-256 And How Is It Related to Bitcoin?