It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency • Hacker News Board

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#201

Post by ALittleLight » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:25 PM UTC

c01n wrote: post #180

idlewords wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm the author of the thread. For what it's worth, I grew up as a refugee whose mother had to find incredibly inventive ways to send USD to family back home, where it was illegal to possess. What I don't understand about the crypto remittances argument is how the people sending and receiving them are supposed to convert them into spendable currency. My hunch is that a lot of the value of cryptocurrency in those count…

> What I don't understand about the crypto remittances argument is how the people sending and receiving them are supposed to convert them into spendable currency. The final goal is not to be able to convert crypto to fiat, the goal is to keep everything in crypto. Do you think all this infrastructure is being build just to convert it back to fiat, what cypherpunks want is to destroy fiat.

But how, you can't use Bitcoin for day to day transactions due to slow settling times and high transaction costs. You could use some of the alt-coins, but how do you coordinate which to use and why would you trust it?

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#202

Post by ahallock » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:25 PM UTC

Why would I trust a source whose own outdated site looks terrible on mobile and is not even on a secure connection? "A bookmarking site for introverts" -- what amazing innovation! It sounds more like Pinboard is looking for engagement by shitposting on Twitter.

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#203

Post by captn3m0 » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:25 PM UTC

onelastjob wrote: post #44

If you're in rural India and don't have access to a bank account, but you do have internet access via a smartphone, then I could definitely see cryptocurrency being valuable to you. And that doesn't even take into account countries like Venezuela that are experiencing hyperinflation, where cryptocurrency would be much more useful. There are cryptocurrencies that are energy efficient and have low (or even zero) transa…

Banking penetration in India is at 80+% mainly due to DBT pushing straight to bank accounts.

India’s smartphone penetration is at 41%.

All exchanges in India require a Savings Bank account for Fiat transfers. How are these unbanked people meant to use crypto really?

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#204

Post by msoad » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:25 PM UTC

Most Bitcoin enthusiast that yell at me "HAVE YOU READ THE WHITE-PAPER??!" and "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE TECHNOLOGY??!" have never actually downloaded the source code and ran the damn thing! At least back in 2011 I was mining on my computer to see what this thing is!

Everyone is using some sort of hosted wallet that defeats the entire propose of it!

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#205

Post by Swizec » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:26 PM UTC

Hamuko wrote: post #187

Swizec wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s the same data structure. Bitcoin just added the proof-of-work idea to extending the chain and attached the concept of “value” as a social construct. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkle_tree

How does consensus work in git?

Multiple peer reviewers look at a pull request and when it passes muster, it gets merged to the longest chain. You can always make a fork and keep going with a new chain.

Same as bitcoin. You can always split off a new chain. You might not convince everyone that your new chain is the chain, but you’re welcome to try.

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#206

Post by icelancer » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:26 PM UTC

dadoge wrote: post #185

bo1024 wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, my understanding is that cryptocurrencies are having impact in developing countries. They can address hyperinflation, access to financial services, general friction in exchanging money etc.

More people need to appreciate this

They never transact with people in countries that have strict financial controls, so the problem does not exist for them. I pay people in Venezuela in cryptocurrency because nothing else is a viable option.

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#207

Post by delaaxe » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:27 PM UTC

bo1024 wrote: post #175

shafyy wrote: post #96

The issue of the "promise" of cryptos (and blockchain in general) is that it tries to solve problems that are not tech problems. They are mostly political/governmental problems that are solved by a working democracy. In countries where there is no working democracy, the dictator won't give two shits if this NFT proves that you own this piece of land before taking it from you. Blockchain in itself is not something tha…

Actually, my understanding is that cryptocurrencies are having impact in developing countries. They can address hyperinflation, access to financial services, general friction in exchanging money etc.

But of course hyperinflation will never ever come to the first world

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#208

Post by ChrisClark » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:27 PM UTC

chx wrote: post #97

dadoge wrote: post #86

Bitcoin is giving people in hyperinflation environments like Nigeria, Argentina, Turkey an out to their oppressive and corrupt govt banking system. If one looks at gold and asks themselves “why is gold worth 11 trillion dollars today?” How did it, over centuries and centuries obtain such a status? Bitcoin has better properties than gold does. It’s more scarce, scarcity means predictability, and predictability gives r…

> predictability have you reviewed what you are writing or is it just a Markov chain generating text?

Just because you don't understand the sentence, doesn't mean you have to insult the guy. Other replies have explained it for you.

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#209

Post by ggreer » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:27 PM UTC

Tweets like those are why Pinboard is one of the few Twitter accounts I've blocked. On certain issues, the author loves to righteously sneer. It annoys the hell out of me because when he's not sneering, he can be a knowledgeable and clear thinker. He's like a glass of wine with a single fly in it.

This behavior isn't just annoying to others; it's harmful to his own goals. If Maciej had hedged his bets and accepted Bitcoin payments for Pinboard in 2013[1], it would most have been the most cost-effective action of his entire life. He would be worth millions more today. He could have used that money to further causes he cares about, such as climate change and social issues.

Instead, he's trying to ban cryptocurrency. We had this same debate with cryptography in the 1990s and DRM removal software in the 2000s. Back then, technically-inclined people agreed that you can't ban math. But now many are trying to do just that. What exactly would a cryptocurrency ban look like? Would calculating lots of SHA-256 hashes cause men with guns to come to your home and put you in a cage? It sounds more absurd than what happened to DVD Jon.[2]

1. https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/376953671655100416

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Lech_Johansen

Re: It's time for us in the tech world to speak out about cryptocurrency

#210

Post by chrisco255 » Sun, May 30, 2021, 9:27 PM UTC

lreeves wrote: post #128

chrisco255 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you been looking at the Maetaverse at all? https://www.sandbox.game/en/ https://decentraland.org/ These are 3D virtual world environments and people are using crypto to build an online economy. They are trading property, buying virtual artwork and creating galleries, setting up clubs and meeting spaces, etc. You can also explore decentralized finance, act as a peer-to-peer lender, provide liquidity in a marketpl…

Second Life did this 3D virtual world stuff almost 20 years ago, and even managed to use real money with an exchange rate as well to do exactly the things you're saying are now new with crypto and blockchains. Also for your other points - the games in this space are universally unfun to play with hardly anyone actually playing them; I can pay normal money to commission artwork; and I can use a zillion platforms that…

They did, but they were an insular community as a result. NFTs allow for a common open standard to be interoperable between games. That helps create an economy where, for example, you can buy a digital artwork at a Christie's auction and display it in Decentraland and have it be verifiably authentic.

Second Life was awesome! This Metaverse trend is pushing that concept much, much further and it's giving ownership and utility to the makers.