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Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

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Re: Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

#91

Post by cal5k »

johnpowell wrote: post #87
cal5k wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's useful now. It could be more useful in the future, or it could be supplanted by something else. All I'm saying is that big changes don't happen as fast as people expect, and it's hard to determine where they'll go while they're happening. See: the internet, cell phones, desktop computers, space travel, etc.

Internet was expensive when it came out. Remember when it used to be pay by the hour and tied up your landline? I had internet through the University and had to kick people out of my apartment because they would sit at my computer forever. Everyone I knew in high school wanted a cellphone but couldn't afford it. Same with desktop computers. Same with space travel. Everyone wanted that that stuff but it was expensive.…

Bitcoin trades on open markets. If it was worth nothing and nobody wanted it, it would trade at $0. Instead, 1 Bitcoin is currently trading at $8,400 USD. Tens of billions of dollars are tied up in it, and it's impossible to trivially create new Bitcoin.

So... pretty much exactly the opposite of what you're arguing.

Re: Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

#92

Post by tromp »

Nursie wrote: post #79
sprash wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh really. Just wait until the police and military demands to be paid with bitcoin.

Wow, it gets better! The police and the army are coiners now too? This is comedy gold.

Better than comedy gold.

Comedy bitcoin.

Re: Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

#93

Post by nosuchthing »

jraedisch wrote: post #67

The reason why I think Bitcoin's success (read increasing in wealth infinitely against fiat, albeit slowing down over time) is more probable than its demise is not that it is some kind of replacement religion for me. It is just that I have so far not heard any good arguments why it would not succeed. Of course opponents might say: why should it succeed if they see no reason for it to succeed. That position is complet…

There's no point in a hard fork when you can just start fresh, and mint a new network of cryptocurrency.

Especially due to the fact that the early cryptocoins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monereo each designed their supplies to dump into a plutocratic distribution.

Re: Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

#94

Post by vkou »

paulgb wrote: post #17
ohaideredevs wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you can answer that for gold & silver, then there is a point in talking about this. If not, the answer is "It's a secure, easily transferable, deflationary store of value. Examples of it being used - Venezuela. Gold is not an option due to crime. The local currency is not an option due to massive inflation.

I see Venezuela cited a lot as an example of Bitcoin adoption, but all I can find about its use is people mining as a way to arbitrage the subsidized electricity prices they get. Is there any evidence of widespread use of Bitcoin there as opposed to, say, USD?

There's also no shortage of people claiming to be from Venezuela, asking for BTC donations.

Re: Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

#95

Post by WalterSear »

Frondo wrote: post #53
cal5k wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resilient as in despite 10 years of continuous doomsday prognostications, Bitcoin continues to be traded and used around the world. And 1 BTC, this thing that didn't exist 10 years ago, is now worth $8,422.40 USD. As for utility: I've used it to pay contractors in Europe, for example, without having to figure out which money transmittal service is going to rip me off the least. Tons of expats living in North America…

The problem I think a lot of people have with Bitcoin, at least that ends up producing articles like this, is that there's always a tremendous amount of goalpost-shifting in the Bitcoin/adjacent community. At times it's been talked about as a replacement for cash in the sense of using it for lots of low-value transactions (it won't work), as a value store (it fluctuates a LOT for that), for sending money across borde…

It's great for laundering money. It's where a huge portion of it's value has come from :(

Re: Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

#96

Post by jraedisch »

nosuchthing wrote: post #93
jraedisch wrote: post #67

The reason why I think Bitcoin's success (read increasing in wealth infinitely against fiat, albeit slowing down over time) is more probable than its demise is not that it is some kind of replacement religion for me. It is just that I have so far not heard any good arguments why it would not succeed. Of course opponents might say: why should it succeed if they see no reason for it to succeed. That position is complet…

There's no point in a hard fork when you can just start fresh, and mint a new network of cryptocurrency. Especially due to the fact that the early cryptocoins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Monereo each designed their supplies to dump into a plutocratic distribution.

I think there is big value in continuity of store of value. People will be easier to convince if they do not lose stake when forking. One would not be buying BTC if one would fear that it can be replaced easily while destroying one's savings.

Re: Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It

#98

Post by erfgh »

cal5k wrote: post #43

I find it amusing that media doesn't give a crap about Bitcoin until there's price action. This was the exact same type of article that was dominating headlines back in the 2017 run-up. Bitcoin has proved remarkably resilient over the last 10 years. It's clear (to me, anyway) that this asset class/set of technologies is here to stay, it's really just a question of what comes of it. It's actually quite useful to be ab…

How the hell it is resilient? I also have a website that I coded 6 years ago and it still keeps running on a server somewhere for its 50 users. Do you find that "remarkably resilient", too?
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