Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

nytimes.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 237 posts

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#31

Post by godzillabrennus »

Jasper_ wrote: post #16
dcw303 wrote: post #7

We're a long way off mainstream. Take the Web as an example: When my university lab computer got trumpet winsock and Netscape installed, it wasn't mainstream. When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. When I learned html and javascript from reading Webmonkey posts it wasn't mainstream. When I switched to this new upstart called Google it wasn't mainstream.…

Even taking your (IMO incorrect) assumption that the web only became mainstream when Facebook launched at face value... > When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. That was 1996. > When I could post on Twitter and Facebook it was starting to feel like it was mainstream. That was 2004. So roughly a gap of 8 years. Bitcoin started in 2009. It's now 2017. A g…

The web was developed for a long time before 1996. I'd wager cryptocurrency has another 8 years before it's mainstream.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#33

Post by Nition »

stronglikedan wrote: post #25

Regardless of whether it will ever go mainstream in the near future, and as a newbie to cryptocurrency, is it expected that, whenever it goes mainstream, the value will? 1) Dramatically rise 2) Rise 3) Behave as usual (depending on current trend) 4) Fall 5) Dramatically fall I just curious. I dabble because some eTailors give discounts for Bitcoin, but I can also invest a bit at any time (just not enough to seriously…

There is a limited total number of bitcoins and the number of bitcoins is increasing very slowly now so technically the more people buy in the more it should go up. Because there is more money in bitcoins but not more bitcoins.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#34

Post by WoodenChair »

mrb wrote: post #30
CPLX wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But with Google your Mom can find out when the store is open and where it is. Facebook lets grandparents see photos of grandchildren. Reading a blog replaces reading the gossip column in the daily paper. You could finally buy plane tickets without driving somewhere. And so on. The early web was really fucking useful as it started to mature. It solved a lot of real problems. What is cryptocurrency going to help these…

" What is cryptocurrency going to help these people do that they can't do already today? " International payments confirmed and spendable in minutes not days. Escaping inflation in Venezuela/Argentina/whoeverisnext. Sending remittance to family overseas without 10% wasted in fees. Receiving monetary donations for organizations that might be victim of oppressive censorship. Participating in modern e-commerce for the u…

There are transaction fees with some cryptocurrencies (for example Bitcoin) – for a small purchase they can be much more than 2%.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#35

Post by jerrylives »

gojomo wrote: post #12
mattdeboard wrote: post #11

2017 is the year of Linux on the desktop

Since POTUS tweets using an Android device in the Oval Office, we can at least say 2017 is the year of Linux on the top desk.

Does Trump still use an Android as POTUS? Any info on what make, OS?

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#36

Post by miscreanity »

Swizec wrote: post #26
CPLX wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But with Google your Mom can find out when the store is open and where it is. Facebook lets grandparents see photos of grandchildren. Reading a blog replaces reading the gossip column in the daily paper. You could finally buy plane tickets without driving somewhere. And so on. The early web was really fucking useful as it started to mature. It solved a lot of real problems. What is cryptocurrency going to help these…

> What is cryptocurrency going to help these people do that they can't do already today? "I want to play investor and get filthy rich but don't have enough money to be an accredited investor, playing stocks feels too hard, and angel investing seems too risky." It's solving that problem.

How many shares are outstanding? According to which exchange? Oh, it was recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain? No question, then.

What about a deed or title for property? Which of countless organizations and public records sources has the document? If it was entered on the Ethereum blockchain, there's no doubt as to ownership.

There's also tracking of goods; outbreak of salmonella? If the trail is available on a blockchain then it's easy to find the source and anything else that might be tainted.

The only reason crypto is volatile right now is due to speculation on which blockchain(s) will be most successful, just as TCP/IP was not always the foremost protocol. It is the nature of growth to be uncertain and wild, and be certain that there is no going backward: Bitcoin and blockchains are here to stay.

One additional note is that they are incredibly powerful tools for control and tracking - a deep state's wet dream, in the process of being willfully adopted by the masses and soon to be the delineating mark between the haves and have-nots. Make no mistake: blockchains can be manipulated by institutional forces. Huxley and Orwell could not have imagined this in their worst nightmares... beware.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#37

Post by radarsat1 »

Jasper_ wrote: post #27
zippergz wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ask your parents to explain cryptocurrency. It's not about wall clock time. It's about milestones.

My point isn't "it's been eight years, so it must be ready", it's "it's been eight years, so you can stop comparing it to the early internet now". I've been following Bitcoin for five years now, and I've seen this "it's the early Internet, success doesn't happen overnight" attitude that gets more and more false every year. Bitcoin and the ecosystem around has barely changed since it was released.

> Bitcoin and the ecosystem around has barely changed since it was released.

And yet it's still going, and with all the turmoil, it hasn't been fundamentally broken yet.

I think in the end, if it remains unbroken (that is, no 50% attacks, etc) bitcoin will become a backing currency for more flexible/faster/easier to use/understand approaches. I think it has a future, but I'm not sure its future is "My mom understands it." It may nonetheless remain useful, and thus, continue to have value, even if itself it never goes "mainstream".

Already it is seeing over the last 2 years a stability in its price that is very comforting. The main criticism is its extreme volatility, but as it is adopted more, as its price goes up, and as more inertia is inserted into the market, it should stabilize even more and cause a positive feedback loop encouraging more adoption. It's doesn't need to be used for day-to-day transactions for it to have value, I think it's already proven that point imho.

The main concern is that this could literally turn around overnight if ever it gets fundamentally hacked/broken. This is always going to be a risk, an uncertainty which might hurt it in the long run. The question is, is this worse than e.g. counterfeit concerns with fiat currency.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#38

Post by prawn »

stronglikedan wrote: post #25

Regardless of whether it will ever go mainstream in the near future, and as a newbie to cryptocurrency, is it expected that, whenever it goes mainstream, the value will? 1) Dramatically rise 2) Rise 3) Behave as usual (depending on current trend) 4) Fall 5) Dramatically fall I just curious. I dabble because some eTailors give discounts for Bitcoin, but I can also invest a bit at any time (just not enough to seriously…

I would guess rise. There is growing interest in getting involved. The easier it is to buy in, the more will chance it.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#39

Post by rdiddly »

zippergz wrote: post #18
Jasper_ wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even taking your (IMO incorrect) assumption that the web only became mainstream when Facebook launched at face value... > When Hotbot was launched and could actually search with some degree of efficiency it wasn't mainstream. That was 1996. > When I could post on Twitter and Facebook it was starting to feel like it was mainstream. That was 2004. So roughly a gap of 8 years. Bitcoin started in 2009. It's now 2017. A g…

Ask your parents to explain cryptocurrency. It's not about wall clock time. It's about milestones.

If you're like 25, I could be your parent. And I understand cryptocurrency OK, so I guess make sure you have dumb parents before trying this test.

But actually the difficulty of understanding it is a big part of what keeps it from going truly mainstream. When the equivalent of AOL comes along and abstracts all that stuff away for people, that's when you'll see Eternal September all over again.

Re: Digital coins may be on the verge of going mainstream

#40

Post by stronglikedan »

Nition wrote: post #33
stronglikedan wrote: post #25

Regardless of whether it will ever go mainstream in the near future, and as a newbie to cryptocurrency, is it expected that, whenever it goes mainstream, the value will? 1) Dramatically rise 2) Rise 3) Behave as usual (depending on current trend) 4) Fall 5) Dramatically fall I just curious. I dabble because some eTailors give discounts for Bitcoin, but I can also invest a bit at any time (just not enough to seriously…

There is a limited total number of bitcoins and the number of bitcoins is increasing very slowly now so technically the more people buy in the more it should go up. Because there is more money in bitcoins but not more bitcoins.

Thanks. So a physical bitcoin is not worth 1 bitcoin, but rather a percentage of the entire bitcoin market value (maybe not the right term), relative to the number of physical bitcoins, correct?
Post reply on HN