101–110 of 327 posts
is anybody really surprised other than people still involved with this blockchain/cryptocurrency nonsense? The entire bitcoin pump and dump was orchestrated.
Conspiracy was unnecessary.
The discussion of blockchain tech on HN is puzzling to me. On the matter of value: I suspect that if we find ourselves able to send a message back in time two years (when BTC was less than $1,000 USD) and report that the price is now over $3,700, that we'll find this message to be met with an understanding that this is, at least, a validation of the use of blockchain tech as a store of value. I suspect that if we des…
You can ask for childlike curiosity, or you can ask people to invest money.
I do, however, know enough about the tech to conclude that this is a time of great excitement and progress; I'm sad that these feelings aren't more widely shared here in our lively discussions every day.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
First of all the word you're looking for is haven (as in a harbor), not heaven. Secondly, are you saying that bitcoin exists solely for the purpose of money laundering and tax evasion?
No, but it certainly can be used for money laundering and tax evasion. It removes the need to trust a bookie or agent to move money offshore. There are lawyers/accountants in Switzerland and Hong Kong who will help you launder money from third world countries. Moving your assets offshore without local government knowing is not a crime in other country! Edit: why downvotes? What's wrong?
I personally tend to think that in the vast majority of cases govt spending of tax money does more for the greater good than whatever a self-appointed authority would. There are many exception to this, but I still think this is largely true in democracies. But then again I tend to identify as a social-democrat.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course if you are filthy stinking rich, it's because you participated in a distributed scam in order to defraud money from those "bandwagon shirt-losers."
It's not a scam just a bad investment. Those using bitcoin for payments saw a utility not provided by other solutions. Those investing are a different class of users. Most purchased after hearing get rich stories.
Almost no one as few will take btc and that number is shrinking.
>Those investing are a different class of users. Most purchased after hearing get rich stories.
Pretty much everyone who owns btc.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What precisely was the scam? Who and how was I scamming by mining coins with my GPU and some open source software I saw on slashdot that are now worth several thousand dollars each?
The scam was not by all btc pioneers. In the last year, there were a lot of holders creating marketing networks filled with misinformation and half-truths. That convinced a lot of people with little financial education and little understanding of the technology, that growth was imminent. All the while, the marketeers screaming "buy buy buy" were selling their btc on exchanges at insane rates. If you're just some guy…
What puzzled me is how comes blockchain startups did not sell their crypto for fiat just after their ICOs. I recommended this to several of my blockchain customers but none of them listened. I dont know if that was motivated by greed or something else. According to Game theory there is no benefit in not selling the crypto for fiat: if you raise lets say 10million during an ico (typical amount raised 6m ago), there is…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I assert that the diffusion of responsibility is a key feature of decentralized technology precisely because it renders us unable to "nip it in the bud".
Not really. When the MPAA wanted action taken on torrented movies, they didn’t just throw their hands up in the air and go “whelp, it’s decentralized!“, they went after the authors of the protocol, the ISPs, hell even domain name registrars (that listed torrent websites). You can still torrent films, but you could get prosecuted or fined. Furthermore, some content is completely censored from torrent sites. All that t…
You could, but national laws still vary a lot, and in some countries, the MPAA simply has no power to do anything. Routing BT traffic through those countries with a VPN makes it pretty difficult for them to take action.
>but regulators will understand how the tech works eventually...
Maybe, but they have no power over laws in different countries.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course if you are filthy stinking rich, it's because you participated in a distributed scam in order to defraud money from those "bandwagon shirt-losers."
What precisely was the scam? Who and how was I scamming by mining coins with my GPU and some open source software I saw on slashdot that are now worth several thousand dollars each?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really. When the MPAA wanted action taken on torrented movies, they didn’t just throw their hands up in the air and go “whelp, it’s decentralized!“, they went after the authors of the protocol, the ISPs, hell even domain name registrars (that listed torrent websites). You can still torrent films, but you could get prosecuted or fined. Furthermore, some content is completely censored from torrent sites. All that t…
I think that in very high-level terms, you're quite correct. You say, for example, 'it’s not clear to me that “decentralized technology” can prevent the very human process of holding others accountable' - I mean, yeah. That's a good starting point. On the other hand, your comment betrays some of the underlying revelation here: indeed, the MPAA has gone after the centralized components of peer-to-peer file sharing, as…
What puzzled me is how comes blockchain startups did not sell their crypto for fiat just after their ICOs. I recommended this to several of my blockchain customers but none of them listened. I dont know if that was motivated by greed or something else. According to Game theory there is no benefit in not selling the crypto for fiat: if you raise lets say 10million during an ico (typical amount raised 6m ago), there is…
It took me a long time to realise, but these people really do believe in bitcoin/blockchains.