Something I rarely see discussed is the gender breakdown of bitcoin ownership. I'd be surprised if it wasn't something like 90%+ men mining, trading, and owning bitcoin. If bitcoin really takes over the world, it's going to look like a bunch of dudes printed themselves a fortune and then convinced the rest of the world to buy it from them.
> If bitcoin really takes over the world, it's going to look like a bunch of dudes printed themselves a fortune and then convinced the rest of the world to buy it from them.
> , a Nobel laureate in economics, said recently that bitcoin "ought to be outlawed” because it’s designed to evade regulation and "doesn’t serve any socially useful function." A world where if something is not required it is forbidden is not a world that I want any part of Nobel winner or otherwise.
The Nobel prize in Economics isn't a real Alfred Nobel prize as set aside in his 1985 will, either... So you're not the only one :).
My wallet does support Segwit. The recommended fee was $3 and it took ~15 minutes to confirm.
Segwit to Segwit? Because it’s less than a buck for me since beginning of november.
Hmm, good point, the recipient may not have been Segwit, I didn't notice. Hopefully Segwit transactions are cheaper, as you say, that would be very good news to me.
"Bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption stands at 29.05 Terawatt hours" I just leave that here...
Do you know what the estimated annual electricity consumption of VISA as a corporation is? What about the Treasury portion of the US government, let alone all the other parts. I'll just leave that there :).
Is the number of transactions anywhere near comparable?
I am really sad that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that ever managed to touch "mainstream" (it's on Steam, it has Stripe support, etc) and we fucked it up so hard that you need a $4 fee just to pay for one thing with it . I was really hoping it would catch on as a medium of exchange, because there's value in being able to pay for things quickly, cheaply and without giving people a bunch of info, but nope. Digita…
Like many, you’re not aware that the Lightning Network is on its way and will solve most of these issues. Moreover, transactions between Segwit-compatible wallets is pretty fast and cheap. I’m kind of tired to hear people complain about the fees while all they have to do is use a different wallet that supports Segwit. Edit: Ah, the downvotes. I was expecting them.
So the proposed solution for scaling bitcoin is to avoid use of the blockchain whenever possible.
I am really sad that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that ever managed to touch "mainstream" (it's on Steam, it has Stripe support, etc) and we fucked it up so hard that you need a $4 fee just to pay for one thing with it . I was really hoping it would catch on as a medium of exchange, because there's value in being able to pay for things quickly, cheaply and without giving people a bunch of info, but nope. Digita…
So... I totally agree that the transaction fees are much too high. But it doesn't bother me as much as it bothers many people because every time I start getting upset, I remember that VISA's fees are 1.5%, PayPal's fees are 3%; basically everything has transaction fees and the world has not come crashing down on them.
But why would anyone spend days downloading the blockchain, significantly increase their data management and opsec responsibilities and cede their usual consumer rights in order to have the same transaction fees as Paypal?
The only reason I can think of is in order to evade various kinds of regulation, but presumably that won't last forever.
"Bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption stands at 29.05 Terawatt hours" I just leave that here...
Do you know what the estimated annual electricity consumption of VISA as a corporation is? What about the Treasury portion of the US government, let alone all the other parts. I'll just leave that there :).
You could also compare it to how much Google consume.
And you should realize the mining electricity usage is in no way related to scaling Bitcoin.
Other cryptocurrencies, which are meant for payment (like Dash) will eventually make it into the mainstream. It's a matter of 1 or 2 years in my opinion. Bitcoin is digital gold, that is also a valid use case IMHO, and a good first step for cryptocurrencies. (Real gold has a 7 trillion market cap.) (Warning: this will be downvoted because of mentioning Dash. Edit after multiple downvotes: Naive people think that they…
I hope so, I did send ETH yesterday with minimal fees and instant confirmation, but no stores accept ETH as payment.
Yes, funny that ETH, which is meant to execute on-chain turing complete code, is much better for simple payment than Bitcoin. On the other hand I think a solution directly designed for payment only is a better fit for this purpose, as it has a bit smaller attack surface than ETH or other dapp platforms. (Admittedly a sophisticated payment system like Dash with the Evolution update has still a higher attack surface than Bitcoin. That is why Bitcoin is perfect as digital gold.)
"Bitcoin’s current estimated annual electricity consumption stands at 29.05 Terawatt hours" I just leave that here...
Do you know what the estimated annual electricity consumption of VISA as a corporation is? What about the Treasury portion of the US government, let alone all the other parts. I'll just leave that there :).
Do you have them? If I had to bet I'd say it is way less.
If you don't then your argument is a bit of pointless, no offense.
Something I rarely see discussed is the gender breakdown of bitcoin ownership. I'd be surprised if it wasn't something like 90%+ men mining, trading, and owning bitcoin. If bitcoin really takes over the world, it's going to look like a bunch of dudes printed themselves a fortune and then convinced the rest of the world to buy it from them.
What do you see as the barriers for women to participate in bitcoin?