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Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

nytimes.com

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Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#101

Post by keymone »

ringaroundthetx wrote: post #100
keymone wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what does that have to do with my grandparent post your gp was response to my question, so i thought you thought you somehow addressed it > ripple network wouldnt be useless for the entity that bought 99.99% because of the network structure what is "network structure"? it can't be the residual 20XRP on everybody's accounts because those are equal to 0XRP as you've just agreed to. the point that somebody can still b…

I think we're agreeing I dont know the answer to the network structure, I think it is some kind of staking/validating thing, thats the basis of my thesis and I had tangentially read it somewhere before deciding to pass on XRP for other reasons. feel free to tell me if you do some independent research on that assumption Yes it is the same standard of any commodity and currency, which is why its not irrelevant. Same in…

i don't have any useful answers for you. i passed on XRP solely because it has nothing to do with cryptocurrencies and it bothers me that they try to pretend to be one and it seems like people are buying it (pun intended).

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#102

Post by [deleted] »

iamleppert wrote: post #5

The thesis statement here is value itself is an arbitrary concept and is such because we say it is. It's completely imaginary, often times irrational and a shared fiction. The fact that we have conventional billionaires at all is almost a ridiculous concept in and of itself, as any amount of tangible work is always done en masse, not by a singular person. Works can be created by individual contributors but it is the…

[deleted]

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#103

Post by jbob2000 »

panarky wrote: post #98
jbob2000 wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't even need to go that far, just generate a bunch of UUIDs and sell them to people.

When you can explain why people trade hard-earned cash for cryptocurrency but would never buy your UUIDs, then you'll understand the flaw in your argument. Hint: It's not because they're stupid or deceived. Go deeper.

Follow me on this one. If I hold all my currency in a service like Coinbase, how do I know that I actually bought bitcoins? All I see is a pretty interface that says "you have x bitcoins" and maybe a list of hashes and whatnot.

To a non-technical, these hashes and numbers are totally meaningless. As long as everything is done through my service (coinbase, for example) nobody has any idea if there are actually bitcoins behind these numbers or not. You can't hold a bitcoin, I can't ask you to mail me them so I can verify that they exist. The only thing you can do is trust the blockchain, which you definitely need a technical background to understand.

So yes, with enough smoke and mirrors, I believe you could setup a service to sell people UUIDs. It hinges on non-technicals using only my service though. Obviously you couldn't do this with a real cryptocurrency, because the blockchain would tell you if the coins actually exist or not.

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#104

Post by pixie_ »

simonbarker87 wrote: post #86
pixie_ wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make it sound like 'anything' could be a currency. When in reality finding a common medium of exchange is extremely difficult, and must meet a lot of the properties I listed above. In terms of 'currency technology' crypto is a huge advance over our current standard currencies.

Anything can be a currency so long as enough people agree there is value. Bristol (a smallish city in the UK) has it's own currency that can be used locally that is accepted by shop keepers etc. You can't pay your mortgage with it but you can buy you apples with it. We could use shiny stones as currency if enough people agreed it had value. I think you are thinking about currency within the confines of the current sy…

'if people agreed it had value' - That is a big if, don't trivialize it. The value of a currency is dependent on a ton of the properties I listed above.

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#105

Post by cwkoss »

teekert wrote: post #85
bemmu wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wanna be billionaire buddies? Issue 1 billion teekertcoins, I'll buy one from you for $1 if you do the same.

Sounds good, Three Commas Club here we come! (Let me first start with a course on constructing Blockchains though... or who cares, lets just use an Excel file for bookkeeping!)

Gotta use Google Sheets or it won't be decentralized /s

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#106

Post by beebmam »

richmarr wrote: post #43
beebmam wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are also downsides of course too. But I think the reality is that the future will have both crypto currencies and fiat currencies. Both have advantages.

Nitpick... crypto currencies are fiat currencies (if they're currencies at all, rather than commododites) Edit: Fiat just means its value is driven by supply/demand rather than being backed by something like gold.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_money

Crypto currencies are not fiat by this definition, since they have nothing to do with governments.

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#107

Post by pixie_ »

richmarr wrote: post #83
pixie_ wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mineable crypto is not fiat because it cannot be created or destroyed at will. That is what gives it value over a fiat currency. You don't have to worry about a central government devaluing it or inflating it artificially.

I see your point, you're tying "fiat" to the act of spontaneous creation at will rather than the lack of a backing commodity, but I don't agree that definition, and even if I did I'm not sure it's as cast-iron a distinction as you're implying. You absolutely do have to worry about price manipulation... the only difference is that it's not specifically governments it's just the disproportionately wealthy. I don't see…

History has shown us that relying 'prudence of a central banker' is a really bad idea. Eventually shit hits the fan and they go on a spree printing money. The huge advance crypto has brought us is a solution to this very problem.

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#108

Post by pixie_ »

imtringued wrote: post #79
pixie_ wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mineable crypto is not fiat because it cannot be created or destroyed at will. That is what gives it value over a fiat currency. You don't have to worry about a central government devaluing it or inflating it artificially.

You now only have to worry about your "currency" crashing by more than 40% overnight.

Keep in mind relatively we're still in the early days of crypto. Though it's not like fiat currencies are immune to crashes. Look at history.

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#109

Post by pixie_ »

imtringued wrote: post #80
pixie_ wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tulips can be created by anyone with some dirt. Mineable crypto is super difficult to create yourself. Tulips are also hard to distinguish, difficult to transport, ephemeral. Understand that and you'll understand why most of your arguments above are poor.

Anyone can create new crypto coins. Did you forget about the ICO craze?

Different cryptos are not compatible with one another. And the value is each is determined by a myriad of intrinsic properties. At the moment I'd say LTC is the most attractive.

Re: Rise of Bitcoin Competitor Ripple Creates Wealth to Rival Zuckerberg

#110

Post by pmontra »

jbob2000 wrote: post #103
panarky wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you can explain why people trade hard-earned cash for cryptocurrency but would never buy your UUIDs, then you'll understand the flaw in your argument. Hint: It's not because they're stupid or deceived. Go deeper.

Follow me on this one. If I hold all my currency in a service like Coinbase, how do I know that I actually bought bitcoins? All I see is a pretty interface that says "you have x bitcoins" and maybe a list of hashes and whatnot. To a non-technical, these hashes and numbers are totally meaningless. As long as everything is done through my service (coinbase, for example) nobody has any idea if there are actually bitcoin…

I might be wrong, but if you keep your coins on an exchange they are in a wallet of the exchange, with a private key of the exchange. They are linked to your account but that information is not stored in the blockchain. It's in the contract between you and the exchange. Very similar to fiat money in a bank computer. To own your bitcoina they must be in your computer. Make backups, trust your hardware. I suggest a pre 2013 Atom :-)
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