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Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

bloomberg.com

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Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#101

Post by MBCook »

brownbat wrote: post #67
MBCook wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't that happen to any general crypto currency that got popular?

The different hashing algorithms have different power requirements. Scrypt (LTC) and KECCAK-256 (ETH) are less power intensive than SHA-256 (BTC). Those are just proof-of-work. Proof-of-stake or proof-of-importance would have barely any power footprint, but there are still debates about whether they could replace PoW and offer similar security guarantees.

Proof of steak is basically the kind of system I was thinking of. Proof of work seems like a very good solution as long as people are relatively equal, but you could use proof of steak to ensure that.

Of course that means that you need some way to set up the initial steaks and decide who gets them. And that means it isn't as democratic like bitcoin is, which I know is a big plus for many people.

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#102

Post by MBCook »

nosuchthing wrote: post #72
MBCook wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't that happen to any general crypto currency that got popular?

Alternative crypto currency network designs try to reduce the energy cost of PoW though delegation to a limited set of masternodes, or via "Proof of Stake" which so far has required a pre-existing supply of coins to exist (and one should ask who mints the supply...?) https://mycrypto.guide/

That seems more like the kind of system I was thinking of, but you're right the initial set up and dolling out of the supply brings you back to the kind of problems bitcoin was trying to avoid.

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#103

Post by omarchowdhury »

mrb wrote: post #68
aresant wrote: post #41

The graph in the article (1), showing a much steeper slope than other bubbles is fascinating for a couple of reasons: 1) The total SCALE of the bubble is much much smaller than say the tech bubble - the 280 stocks representative of the tech bubble fell almost $1.7 TRILLION in 52 weeks (2) vs the total crypto market cap @ the moment of ~180 billion. 2) The total scale of the Crypto bubble has MORE potential than stock…

Bitcoin has indeed appreciated more than any other investment in human history. In 7.5 years it went from $0.003 to $4900: a growth 1,600,000×. Imagine investing ten bucks and a few years later it is worth $16 million! For comparison: the founders seed round of Uber grew their investment 65,000×, tulip prices increased by at most 5,000× during tulip mania, some "best performing stocks" over the last century are repor…

It's contemplating these returns and seeing the price still going up that leads people to continue jumping in to buy at any price level. Is there an upper limit to this?

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#104

Post by mixedCase »

omarchowdhury wrote: post #99
mixedCase wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a true, real post apocalyptic world, you can't eat gold, you can't have sex with it, it will not cure your sickness nor will it feed your vices; therefore, it has little to no value.

But someone might exchange that gold with you for food, for sex, for medicine, and for what feeds your vices, as they have for millennia.

Once a semblance of civilization establishes again? Then yes, it's likely. During times of true hardship where the general population is at risk of dying of starvation, disease or being murdered by a once upstanding citizen, and there's no way to readily exchange that gold for needed supplies? No. You would consider yourself lucky to be able to exchange a bar of solid gold for a few cans of food.

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#105

Post by grizzles »

drizzzler wrote: post #76

It's funny how thick HNers are about Bitcoin. I believe it's evidence of the sort of passive conservatism of the tech community. Bitcoin is some utopian shit, the decentralized technology dream that has a ton of traction, yet many of you just can't seem to get behind it. Is it because YC is an ultra capitalistic investment fund and Bitcoin is just too anarchist for its fanboys? For all the people out there saying, "I…

s/Bitcoin/Christianity/g

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#106

Post by cyphunk »

omarchowdhury wrote: post #96
cheez wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except anyone can figure out where my money comes from and where it goes. No thanks!

Okay. So I'm anyone. How am I going to know what your addresses are? Starting from where I am right now all the way over here. You did say anyone.

the first time you ever pay anyone for anything the probability that this person can determine your entire net worth is much much higher than if you were to use any other means of value exchange (Cash, credit, check, etc).

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#107

Post by omarchowdhury »

mixedCase wrote: post #104
omarchowdhury wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But someone might exchange that gold with you for food, for sex, for medicine, and for what feeds your vices, as they have for millennia.

Once a semblance of civilization establishes again? Then yes, it's likely. During times of true hardship where the general population is at risk of dying of starvation, disease or being murdered by a once upstanding citizen, and there's no way to readily exchange that gold for needed supplies? No. You would consider yourself lucky to be able to exchange a bar of solid gold for a few cans of food.

True, it would by necessity be a barter economy.

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#108

Post by omarchowdhury »

BenoitEssiambre wrote: post #70
theklub wrote: post #11

What will stop bitcoin's price from going up? I just keep thinking that other than new laws or something getting hacked there is no reason for the price to not just keep creeping up.

It can't go up forever because the knowledge of that trend would make more and more people invest in them. At some point this would cause people to build stashes of tokens instead of investing in real businesses with real production capacity. When this trend would become widespread enough, it would eventually cause global production capacity to drop. That's right, when enough people do it, token hoarding displaces in…

This is the soundest commentary I have encountered regarding the Bitcoin phenomenon since 2008. Sure, a lot of people will denounce Bitcoin, even central bankers will assign doom to it, but never assert why. Is your background in economics? What literature or resource do you recommend I read to understand more of what you understand? May I contact you?

Re: Bitcoin Gets Close to $5,000

#110

Post by omarchowdhury »

MBCook wrote: post #102
nosuchthing wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternative crypto currency network designs try to reduce the energy cost of PoW though delegation to a limited set of masternodes, or via "Proof of Stake" which so far has required a pre-existing supply of coins to exist (and one should ask who mints the supply...?) https://mycrypto.guide/

That seems more like the kind of system I was thinking of, but you're right the initial set up and dolling out of the supply brings you back to the kind of problems bitcoin was trying to avoid.

Unless the supply was initially distributed through PoW, and then the system switched to PoS. That is the plan for Ethereum.
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