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Crypto is an unproductive bubble

alexkolchinski.com

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Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#181

Post by Tijdreiziger »

cf141q5325 wrote: post #169
Tijdreiziger wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you take this argument to its logical conclusion, anarchism is the only form of free government. All laws and regulations necessarily take freedom away. That is the basis of the social contract: you aren’t free to harm others.

>social contract Thats a bad case of framing. Contract implies willing participants and free choice. You have a story which with you justify forcing people around.

> You have a story which with you justify forcing people around.

I repeat: that’s the definition of the social contract. You are forced, by threat of violence, not to engage in harmful activities.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_contract

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#182

Post by udfalkso »

Nextgrid wrote: post #145

Cryptocurrencies have a valid but very specific use-case: being able to transact in a hostile environment. It does so by making certain trade-offs such as an energy-intensive verification process. This is a very valid use-case when you need to transact against the will of a powerful adversary such as governments. It needs to be there and needs to be protected just like free speech needs to be protected. However, day-…

You're forgetting a 2nd important use case. Protection against arbitrary, political, variable "money printing". This is important for a store of value.

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#183

Post by jgod »

Nextgrid wrote: post #121
gonehome wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know the content of the bill, but it’s a matter of degree. It’s harder to control your transactions when you have self-custody. It requires a higher level of coordination.

You just need to control the onramps and offramps. Bitcoin is of no use if you can't exchange it for anything tangible.

All that's required for people to exchange it for something tangible, is for people to start.

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#184

Post by jonhohle »

diego_moita wrote: post #100
jhatemyjob wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rust is an incredibly difficult language to be productive in and I don't think it will stand the test of time. C has been around for half a century and is a perfectly fine language to use today. Rust is popular because people these days are too risk averse, "unsafe" code is really not that bad.

> people these days are too risk averse And they should be. Software has become much bigger than it was "half a century" ago. We need to scale up on C. > "unsafe" code is really not that bad. Wow,... I only hope I never need to maintain your code.

I read that as “code written in a non memory safe language”, since that’s the nomenclature that memory safe languages use when they need to execute code that can’t have the guarantees the language typically enforces (often when interfacing with things outside their ecosystem).

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#185

Post by xur17 »

ryanbrunner wrote: post #119
goldcd wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's true. Credit cards, paypal and all the rest existed before bitcoin. I mean it's nifty that I can do it without a single intermediary authority, but it's not that special. I think the lack of revocation available to bitcoin is a (and I had myself for saying this) 'a feature'. If somebody sends me payment in bitcoin, I definitely know it can't be charged-back for example. It's like sending cash in…

As a consumer though, chargebacks and disputes are an important feature for me, particularly when exploits and bugs exist and I can't and shouldn't have perfect trust that bitcoins will only leave my wallet when I intend for them to.

Bitcoin doesn't have to be everything to everyone to be useful.

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#186

Post by daenz »

cf141q5325 wrote: post #179
daenz wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Want to make a bet? I can survey 100 random people about the trustworthiness of crypto versus cash and prove you wrong.

The market speaks for itself. One works as a store of value, one doesnt.

I think we're debating two different points. My point is about the perception of the trustworthiness of crypto by your average person. Your point seems to be that crypto is a better financial instrument.

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#187

Post by z3c0 »

udfalkso wrote: post #182
Nextgrid wrote: post #145

Cryptocurrencies have a valid but very specific use-case: being able to transact in a hostile environment. It does so by making certain trade-offs such as an energy-intensive verification process. This is a very valid use-case when you need to transact against the will of a powerful adversary such as governments. It needs to be there and needs to be protected just like free speech needs to be protected. However, day-…

You're forgetting a 2nd important use case. Protection against arbitrary, political, variable "money printing". This is important for a store of value.

That's the goal of Bitcoin and other deflationary cryptocurrencies, but not all cryotocurrencies adhere to that tenant.

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#188

Post by AlotOfReading »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #167
benreesman wrote: post #43

How many times are we going to have this conversation? Yes crypto is an asset bubble, alongside equities, real estate, precious metals, you name it. Money printer go brrrr, more dollars are chasing the same amount of Apple sells iPhones. Crypto has no intrinsic value, it pays no dividend and doesn’t give you proxy rights, just like all the tech equities. Proof of work burns a lot of electricity, though this is compli…

Crypto is the evolution of money. It's early days now. The one thing I know is that people are greedy and it's that greed that will make crypto function as part of society. It reminds me of the early days of the personal computer. Early PC's were useless to most people. But they were the greatest tool/toy to some. They couldn't get enough of it. Now it's crypto. It's mainly useless to most but some people can' t get…

I remember hearing this when I would ask what the point of Bitcoin was over a decade ago. Now major cryptocurrency networks have expenditures approaching the GDPs of mid-sized countries. It's well past time to retire the "early days" argument.

Re: Crypto is an unproductive bubble

#189

Post by [deleted] »

daenz wrote: post #171
cf141q5325 wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because its still more trustworthy then a currency that is managed under modern monetary theory. As in you can print as much money as you want as long as people have no store of value to escape into. You can argue about the validity of that argument all day long but the size of the crypto market speaks for itself. At the end of the day, somebody spend energy for its creation which gives it at least some sort of store…

Want to make a bet? I can survey 100 random people about the trustworthiness of crypto versus cash and prove you wrong.

[deleted]
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