From my POV the ideological reason behind supporting bitcoin is somewhat weakened given that you'll just have the caste of early adopters completely dominate the market. Essentially trading one elite with another with possibly even greater inequality this time
Bitcoin is a disaster
171–180 of 992 posts
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#172Earlier quoted context omitted.
It isn't as simple as that. Not only have you got to change that line of code, you need to convince all users of bitcoin to run that version of the code including miners. Otherwise you have forked the coin and you might be the only user of it (your version is incompatible with the rest).
You don’t need most to agree. Just the basic majority (50%+). And of course that’s exactly what the major mining consortiums will do: Collude to increase the limit when it’s reached. After all, the rewards are in the mining, not the transaction fee.
The transaction fees are extremely relevant to miners, it is currently the icing on the cake, but will become more relevant over time.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#173Earlier 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…
>> The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen. The emergent cartel of miners becomes that.
If you think this, you don't understand Bitcoin.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#174Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's "digital cash" in this context? What does it offer extra compared to regular cash and online payments?
Exactly. And barring an unlikely collapse, cash/dollar isn't going to fluctuate much at all in value. So... a feature. At this point, bitcoin is a competitor to gold as an asset store. Maybe it will be more like a currency at some point. But there's a long way to go and a lot of forces against it for that to occur.
Just pointing out; there exist also those who consider the possibility of a collapse of cash/dollar more likely than your estimate.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
> What kind of things do you buy with it and where? Drugs, CP, cryptotrojan ransom, other crime related transactions. Bitcoin value is directly related to relevant criminal activity.
Dollar is STILL the king of criminal activity, money laundering, kidnapping, ransom ... it will take awhile for the shift to happen.
I thought the Euro was taking over thanks to the 500EU note?
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#176Earlier 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…
The intent was 'actual digital cash', the result was 'instrument for speculation, money laundering and other fraud' which is entirely dependent on actual real money (and its institutions). Whether one finds that ironic or not is a matter of taste but it's clearly not exactly what the goal of "digital cash" was supposed to be.
Dollar is still the king of money laundering. Regulatory support, shoddy bank regulations makes it a smooth experience of money launderers and mafia with USD.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#177This is written from the perspective of a person who believes in blockchain-based currencies but thinks Bitcoin as an implementation of said currency is a failure. He thinks the concept of mining is a fundamental flaw. But he keeps the door open for different implementations. Personally, I think the whole concept of blockchain-based currencies is flawed. But let’s not go there right now. The value of Bitcoin is very…
Bitcoin total market cap is ~$500 billion, so it's still a pretty small niche, and I think there's quite a ways to go before it becomes "too big to fail".
For comparison, the market cap of gold is ~$10 trillion. The majority of the US economy is not hooked into Bitcoin, and very few institutional investors have any significant exposure to Bitcoin. Contrast that with the '08 financial crisis that was based in real estate -- the US real estate market at the peak of the crisis was ~$23 trillion [1], with nearly every major financial institution heavily exposed.
[1]: https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/z1/balanc...
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Technically speaking, it's also a terrible investment vehicle for those same reasons. It's a fantastic parlor game of speculation though, where the point is the volatility.
It's volatile, but the overwhelming trend has been upwards. Historically it's a great investment if you can weather volatility
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not the reality of cash as cash doesn’t change value like Bitcoin (in either direction), it’s also usually not scarce, and always much easier to use.
The dollar doesn't change value like Bitcoin, not cash as a whole.
oh yes it does, it has crashed more than 2000% vs Bitcoin in a decade.
Re: Bitcoin is a disaster
#180Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Do you live in the US? If so, how do you deal with the tax implications of buying lots of things with crypto? It's my understanding that each of those is considered a taxable event that you have to report on your tax return.