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Bitcoin is a Cult

adamcaudill.com

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Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#201

Post by acdha »

apo wrote: post #188

The Bitcoin community has changed greatly over the years; from technophiles that could explain a Merkle tree in their sleep, to speculators driven by the desire for a quick profit & blockchain startups seeking billion dollar valuations led by people who don’t even know what a Merkle tree is. I'm not sure which version of history this guy was on, but it clearly hasn't been the one I followed. He's describing a past th…

> It took years for Bitcoin's technical ideas to become well-understood by even a fraction of the user base.

That last part is the key qualifier for this line of criticism: there were quite a few people who were interested in the tech but also understood it and economics well enough not to become boosters.

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#202

Post by lkrubner »

People in the West don't seem to realize how much Bitcoin is supported by Chinese businesses, and citizens, that are trying to evade their government's capital controls. Many people have an urgent desire to get money out of China, to invest it or spend it elsewhere. Bitcoin gives them a way to evade government regulations. This is why Bitcoin mining is such a big deal in China.

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#203

Post by ccajas »

Permit wrote: post #49

I think people have largely missed the point of the article. This is specifically in relation to a "magic hash" on a block that was mined on June 19, 2018 with the hash: 00000000000000000021e800c1e8df51b22c1588e5a624bea17e9faa34b2dc4a The leading zeros are the "proof-of-work". The bitcoin mining algorithm tries various nonces and generates many hashes until it finds one with (currently) 18 leading zeros. Surprisingly…

It seems to be a special case of pareidolia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#204

Post by jhobag »

simias wrote: post #113
Obi_Juan_Kenobi wrote: post #31

There is, without a doubt, a Bitcoin cult. Or more generally, crypto-currency cults. The headline reads like it's only a cult, which isn't the case. Even the most critical observer must concede that these distributed networks are novel and interesting. The farther you move from social media, the less cult-like things get. The best discussion remains on listservs, and there is a lot of interesting and substantive disc…

>Even the most critical observer must concede that these distributed networks are novel and interesting. Frankly that's besides the point these days. Lurk in cryptocurrency subreddits for a while and see that hardly anybody talks about the technology anymore, it's all about "memes" and very dubious projections. Things like this for instance: https://i.redditmedia.com/51566F6-xO0zIBDD7HzYRZyEGhDpMqQpAr... (fresh off t…

you're using r/bitcoin as an example? one of the most well known cryptocurrency subs for toxicity and juvenile mods

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#205

Post by Nursie »

Izkata wrote: post #68
Nursie wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Altcoins are exactly the same

I think that's the idea: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming > Cargo cult programming is a style of computer programming characterized by the ritual inclusion of code or program structures that serve no real purpose. > Cargo cult programming can also refer to the practice of applying a design pattern or coding style blindly without understanding the reasons behind that design principle.

I don't really believe those apply here - they're the same and they're supposed to be, and they function the same. The level of understanding is largely irrelevant.

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#207

Post by [deleted] »

Synaesthesia wrote: post #51

When I first got into bitcoin I thought it could be a wonderful alternative to the current monetary system, I especially hoped it would be more equitably shares. Unfortunately it’s turned out to be as unequally shared as our current wealth is, if not more. Perhaps some kind of coin where everybody in the world is issued the same amount or something.

[deleted]

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#208

Post by isostatic »

phobosdeimos wrote: post #180
MBCook wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What Apple Pay transaction fees? They’re exactly the same standard credit card transaction fees because they ARE standard credit card transaction fees. Apple doesn’t take a cut.

"they ARE standard credit card transaction fees" Creditcards are robbery, they are not very populair and cost retailers money. Why does everyone want to make money from transactions? We are talking about a basic service that costs less than a cent.

> they are not very populair and cost retailers money

Citation needed.

Well on the popular claim. Yes they cost retailers money, so do debit cards, so does cash.

In the UK debit cards are the most popular means to do a retail transaction - in terms of numbers of transactions (it's been plastic in terms of value for years). Credit card transactions from 9% in 2013 to 11.5% in 2016. Debit card from 32% to 43%. Cash decreased from 52% to 42%. 'Plastic' has never been more popular.

Average cost of taking sash has remained fairly stable, but the cost of taking debit and credit cards has plummeted in recent years, in line with their increased popularity.

In 2016, credit cards cost 0.5%, Debit 0.25%, Cash 0.15%.

Non card costs (including things like paypal) is at 1.7%.

Figures from https://brc.org.uk/media/179489/payment-survey-2016_final.pd...

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#209

Post by joveian »

mikeash wrote: post #171
Retric wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That actually has an interesting failure. The first interesting number that's interesting because it's not special works. The second might qualify, the 10008 does not.

How can there be a second one if there isn’t a first one?

How can an arrow move if it needs to get halfway to wherever it going first?

Lots of paradoxes you can construct with infinitite recursion or self reference in the absence of time.

In this case, interesting is fundamentally a temporal concept and there is only a paradox if you pretend that it isn't.

Re: Bitcoin is a Cult

#210

Post by SlowRobotAhead »

sparkie wrote: post #118
SlowRobotAhead wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good overview, a lot of stuff I didn’t know. What I do know and have known is that anyone that believes the “it’s decentralized” part about any cryptocommodity is a damn fool. The database might be but nothing else. There are at any time a dozen people that could utterly destroy bitcoin with some well placed shenanigans.

The shit you read on reddit is full of conspiracy theorist nonsense, and completely detached from Bitcoin development. Development is done and discussed in the open on mailing lists, github etc, and is subject to community review. There's a process outlined in BIP2 for any (non-trivial code) changes to the Bitcoin Core software. Of course, anyone can fork the software and make complaints publicly if there was malicio…

I didn’t read anything on reddit.

If you believe bitcoin can’t be crashed by a handful bad actors I fully encourage you to put your 401K in.

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