Coinbase mafia shows how tight a circle holds sway over Bitcoin

Post by iso1210 » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 7:19 PM UTC

betterunix2 wrote: post #94

iso1210 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What is the fair value of bitcoin? It will never provide dividends or other types of future cashflows, so that aspect of its fair value is zero. The remaining part is purely speculative in that it is based on what other people will pay for it. Do Swiss Franks pay dividends or other types of cashflows? If I have 50,000 CHF in a box in my cupboard, what value is it beyond a small amount of fuel to burn? At some point…

Actually the ultimate reason why a note has value is that it can be used to settle tax bills and other debts, so you do not have to "hope" that someone out there will take it -- the government behind the money will take it from anyone who owes taxes, which is almost everyone who lives or does business in the country.

Post by jaspax » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 7:26 PM UTC

glitchc wrote: post #120

Fiat money works because government has a strong say in its creation and valuation, and govt. is elected by the people. Lobbying and other private interests aside, by and large, the system is still beholden to the opinions of the citizenry. Decentralized finance, while originally designed to give more power directly to the people (Nakamoto’s “one CPU one vote”), is now clearly shown to be beholden to an oligopoly of…

Post by xirbeosbwo1234 » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 7:37 PM UTC

superbcarrot wrote: post #4

mrfinn wrote: post #3

Blockchain technology is doomed, and somebody will be, eventually, the last link of the ponzi scheme.

I don't get why people's thinking swings to these wild extremes. Why does it have to be either a societal disruptor that changes everything or a doomed ponzi scheme? Can't it be something like "oh we tried to have cool internet money, turned out that it's not that great, some people are still into it I guess".

Post by bombcar » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 7:55 PM UTC

arcticbull wrote: post #125

kemonocode wrote: post #101

I won't say much about the article as it's a topic that has been discussed plenty of times before (The merits and faults of Bitcoin) with often inflammatory results, but I will definitively say it's pretty easy and rather intellectually dishonest to attack it only whenever there's a dramatic price swing. Where were all these articles during all those price lull periods? Also, if we're pointing fingers, the influence…

Some of us have maintained a strong anti-Bitcoin position at all times. [edit] David Gerard comes to mind - author of Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain and Libra Shrugged - and HN user (dgerard I think) ( https://davidgerard.co.uk/ ) More recently Amy Castor, also an HN user (amycastor) ( https://amycastor.com/ ) And of course Bitfinex’d is back and public again on Twitter. ( https://twitter.com/Bitfinexed )

Post by UShouldBWorking » Sun, Feb 28, 2021, 8:02 PM UTC

dehrmann wrote: post #106

Traster wrote: post #21

It is kind of funny that exchanges have become so successful for Bitcoin- since they lose 100% of the stuff that made BTC attractive in the first place. They’re centralised, regulated and transactions don’t even go on the blockchain. The result is that the number 1 way people get into Bitcoin is through a mechanism that has none of the attributes of Bitcoin.

> The result is that the number 1 way people get into Bitcoin is through a mechanism that has none of the attributes of Bitcoin. Sure, but 95% of people don't care about that. They just want an asset they will go up. Everything else is just a story people tell themselves so they're not putting 20% of their net worth in trading cards.