Here's the hard question: is it not a moral imperative, now, to stop Bitcoin (and other related proof-of-work systems) before they destroy the planet further? How do we do it?
Bitcoin is a disaster
121–130 of 992 posts
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#122>The scarcity of block chain space has led people to re-invent every last feature of the banks they thought they were going to be escaping. This is a pretty funny point because every time I go on twitter and see people talk about crypto, what they're essentially having is a discussion about public policy, and often they seem to try to reinvent institutions that already exist without even knowing it. From market-maker…
I don't see the irony. The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen. That institutions can be built on top of that, and that some people want such institutions, doesn't change the novel utility of finally having a currency that functions like digital cash. It's like saying it's ironic that people use physical USD for anonymous p2p transactions…
Every Bitcoin transaction is crawling with industrial and governmental middlemen, often with the latter trying to arrest the former for stealing all your money.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#123Completely agreeable, albeit it misses a point: Governments can't print more of it. That's it really, everything else is noise. I can sympathize with btc (I wish we still had a gold standard, or a standard based on the price of common goods) but I don't see much the other benefits. On top of this, governments could ban btc.
But governments can subsidize the electricity to create new Bitcoins. Isn't that the same as printing money?
That would have an impact but you would still be constrained by the growing difficulty of the algorithm.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't all currencies work that way?
How do you send USD to someone digitally?
A lot of ways. And the banks reconcile the cash movement behind the scenes. As I understand it, in a simple example, if you send $1k to someone. And someone at their bank sends $1k to someone at your bank, there's nothing that the banks need to do other than record it.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#125Completely agreeable, albeit it misses a point: Governments can't print more of it. That's it really, everything else is noise. I can sympathize with btc (I wish we still had a gold standard, or a standard based on the price of common goods) but I don't see much the other benefits. On top of this, governments could ban btc.
The government finance system is run by finance executives who are investing in Bitcoin not so they can shut it down but to speculate and diversify.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#126Related: the current rise of Bitcoin prices has been peculiar to me, and seems to be a bit of a canary in an inflationary coal mine. We've injected trillions of dollars of fiat into the economy this year. It feels like the sky-high valuations of technology companies and Bitcoin are "shock absorbers" of sorts, or early signals of inflation-yet-to-come. If we assume the market is efficiently pricing these assets (like…
> the price of things like groceries, beer and travel double or triple what they were in 2019.
It's already the case. Not 2x or 3x but double digits inflation on groceries notably meat products won't be surprising when we do the math next year.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#127[flagged]
The author of the post, Ray Dillinger , was involved in the bitcoin project alongside Satoshi at the very beginning: http://diswww.mit.edu/bloom-picayune/crypto/137799
He's among a very small group of original authors. He quite literally bought into Bitcoin when it was just an idea.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#128Completely agreeable, albeit it misses a point: Governments can't print more of it. That's it really, everything else is noise. I can sympathize with btc (I wish we still had a gold standard, or a standard based on the price of common goods) but I don't see much the other benefits. On top of this, governments could ban btc.
I mean, the 21 million cap is just a line of code no? No reason why if enough people agree to it they could just print more. Or they could fork and print more no? I find it strange that people speak of bitcoin's scarcity as if it were a physical thing.
Isn’t this what Bitcoin Cash is? I’m really asking, but I thought so.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see the irony. The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen. That institutions can be built on top of that, and that some people want such institutions, doesn't change the novel utility of finally having a currency that functions like digital cash. It's like saying it's ironic that people use physical USD for anonymous p2p transactions…
No one treats Bitcoin as a currency. It’s treated as an investment vehicle. And the reason behind that is obvious. Something whose value may double in a month or whose value may halve within weeks is a terrible currency. If I expect it’s value to increase then I would be a fool to spend it. If I expect it’s value to drop I would be a fool to accept it. Cryptocurrencies are anything but currencies.
Isn’t it impossible for the market value to change without both a buyer and a seller?
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see the irony. The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen. That institutions can be built on top of that, and that some people want such institutions, doesn't change the novel utility of finally having a currency that functions like digital cash. It's like saying it's ironic that people use physical USD for anonymous p2p transactions…
No one treats Bitcoin as a currency. It’s treated as an investment vehicle. And the reason behind that is obvious. Something whose value may double in a month or whose value may halve within weeks is a terrible currency. If I expect it’s value to increase then I would be a fool to spend it. If I expect it’s value to drop I would be a fool to accept it. Cryptocurrencies are anything but currencies.
I use Bitcoin where ever possible, so your opening claim is wrong.
I've been banned from Paypal. I've run into many verification issues over the last decade with banks because I have no proof of residency once my driver's license expired.
Like physical cash, it doesn't need to be superior in all ways to be useful at all.