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Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

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Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#11

Post by BonesJustice »

joering2 wrote: post #5

Bitcoin advocates have long suggested the virtual money would one day replace fiat currencies as a means of doing business That's not the case anymore either. We have few powerful miners than own more than 50%. Sure they separate entity per se, but if they talk and agree together, they can do whatever they want. They whole premise that crypto is free and decentralized and "banks cannot control it" is a good idea.. un…

Over time, power always consolidates amongst a privileged few. That’s pretty much a universal constant. It doesn’t really matter what the unit of power is, be it dollars, hash rate, or political capital.

Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#12

Post by dnomad »

lern_too_spel wrote: post #9
joering2 wrote: post #5

Bitcoin advocates have long suggested the virtual money would one day replace fiat currencies as a means of doing business That's not the case anymore either. We have few powerful miners than own more than 50%. Sure they separate entity per se, but if they talk and agree together, they can do whatever they want. They whole premise that crypto is free and decentralized and "banks cannot control it" is a good idea.. un…

The whole system consists of flaws the authors would have forseen if they understood economic thinking. Instead, they pretended that all the tenets of economics magically go away if you apply a little cryptography. The flaw you're pointing out is that whoever has access to cheap electricity and scale will be able to control the system. There is not sufficient incentive for others to jump in to a money losing proposit…

I propose Bitcoin and most other extra-legal (ie non state supported) currencies are going to zero. That said we can be grateful that the experiment was done and data was gained.

Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#13

Post by wycs »

briatx wrote: post #10

It has been clear for a while now that Bitcoin is an inferior payment system for the consumer: * The fees are higher. * The risk to the consumer is higher. * The difficulty of use is higher. * It is accepted at an extremely low amount of vendors and even that is falling. So you really how to wonder why people ever thought consumers would use it en masse.

Also, money works pretty well. Bitcoin is not 10x better. Maybe 0.1x. Bitcoin is not even useful for illicit transactions anymore.

Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#15

Post by glup »

KasianFranks wrote: post #7

Bitcoin (and crypto) is not a currency, commodity, stock or bond. It's a combination which makes it a completely new and different kind of asset class. It's a programmable asset that primarily serves as a 'trading vehicle' in the mind of traders and Wall St. Understanding this helps to understand why Goldman and others are stepping over themselves to setup trading desks for most crypto now and in the future.

I totally agree with the assertion that it doesn't fall into existing asset type (or-- maybe that it can move between asset types in a novel way), but what do you mean by "programmable"? Isn't the simpler explanation or enthusiasm on the part of Goldman et al. just classic FOMO?

Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#16

Post by keymone »

wycs wrote: post #13
briatx wrote: post #10

It has been clear for a while now that Bitcoin is an inferior payment system for the consumer: * The fees are higher. * The risk to the consumer is higher. * The difficulty of use is higher. * It is accepted at an extremely low amount of vendors and even that is falling. So you really how to wonder why people ever thought consumers would use it en masse.

Also, money works pretty well. Bitcoin is not 10x better. Maybe 0.1x. Bitcoin is not even useful for illicit transactions anymore.

By money you mean what exactly? Anything in a bank account is not money but promise of money that can be taken away without your knowledge. Any specific currency is subject to whim of corresponding central bank. Sure, some are safer than others but still. Even the right to participate is not a given as you can be banned from opening a bank account.

Bitcoin is orders of magnitude better money than anything else in every aspect except convenience, but it’s getting there.

Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#17

Post by jfaucett »

The primary utility of money is this: it is the good that best lends itself to exchanges for other goods.

Its been clear to me for some time now, and I'm not alone in this, that as the properties of Bitcoin have moved further away from its primary function as a useful unit of exchange that its usage would decline.

There are other crypto-currencies which are now much better suited as a medium of exchange, which ones people will prefer as time progresses remain to be seen, but unless Bitcoin takes a major corrective path, I would be quite surprised to find Bitcoin in that final set of widely utilized currencies.

Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#19

Post by glup »

BonesJustice wrote: post #11
joering2 wrote: post #5

Bitcoin advocates have long suggested the virtual money would one day replace fiat currencies as a means of doing business That's not the case anymore either. We have few powerful miners than own more than 50%. Sure they separate entity per se, but if they talk and agree together, they can do whatever they want. They whole premise that crypto is free and decentralized and "banks cannot control it" is a good idea.. un…

Over time, power always consolidates amongst a privileged few. That’s pretty much a universal constant. It doesn’t really matter what the unit of power is, be it dollars, hash rate, or political capital.

Unless the privileged few choose to build institutions to limit the accumulation of capital or power, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Society. To call it a universal constant is a convenient abdication of responsibility.

Re: Bitcoin's Use in Commerce Keeps Falling

#20

Post by raverbashing »

briatx wrote: post #10

It has been clear for a while now that Bitcoin is an inferior payment system for the consumer: * The fees are higher. * The risk to the consumer is higher. * The difficulty of use is higher. * It is accepted at an extremely low amount of vendors and even that is falling. So you really how to wonder why people ever thought consumers would use it en masse.

And the BTC people made darn sure to make it harder and more expensive to use.

Not a surprise commerce will turn to other coins, including BCH

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