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On anti-crypto toxicity

blog.mollywhite.net

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Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#181

Post by dcolkitt »

K0nserv wrote: post #78
telomero22 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's really irrelevant in 2022, since 90% of blockchains are not Proof of Work anymore.

Maybe 90% by count, but not 90% by volume of transactions, prominence, etc. Bitcoin seems to be entirely resistant to moving away from PoW and Ethereum have been in the process of moving to PoS for years. Pop quiz: What will happen first, Ethereum PoS or the year of linux on the desktop?

You realize the merge has already successfully completed on a testnet last month. The Geth client code for the merge is complete.

I’m willing to bet any amount you want up to $30,000 that Ethereum main net is running PoS by Dec 31 of this year.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#182

Post by oauea »

jack_pp wrote: post #42
bertil wrote: post #25

The largest and easiest argument against crypto is the environmental impact. It’s completely ignored in that piece.

It's not that easy. Renewable power plants could be setup in areas where it makes no sense due to the logistics of transporting that energy to normal society and that plant could be 100% used to mine crypto which in a way makes crypto a "wireless energy transport technology". Complaining that crypto uses a lot of power is like complaining India is trying to burn fossil fuels which will harm the planet. India wants to…

How does one turn crypto back into energy?

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#183

Post by malthaus »

Unfortunately, given:

"How can we create a more equitable financial system, where everyone has access to banking services? How can we reduce the power that a small few currently hold over the web? How can we improve data privacy and ensure that people have control over their personal information? How can we create reasonable privacy in the financial system? How can we make information more available to everyone? How can we fix a society where so many people are in untenable financial situations? How can we reduce the enormous wealth disparity in today’s society—both in the existing distribution of wealth but also in access to new opportunities to earn it? How can we enable creatives to make a fair living from their art? How can we address inequities on a global scale? How can we create self-governing communities around shared interests or goals?"

Cryptocurrencies as a tech are not the answer for any of those questions, they could be a tool to support some of those things but as of now are not the most efficient way to improve those. Maybe the "movement" / hype behind cryptos could help but you have to an absolute uncynical person to think that given the types that are most loudely hyping it up, society won't be worse off in the end.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#184

Post by thinkmassive »

mattwilsonn888 wrote: post #123
lekevicius wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a fantastic experience at DevCon V. Ethereum developer conferences attract all the technical folks and almost none of "money" people. I haven't gone to any Bitcoin conference, but I can't see it being the same. Bitcoin's aversion to change means mostly demagogues are left, and all the talk is money talk.

> Bitcoin's aversion to change means mostly demagogues are left, and all the talk is money talk. That's true, but you say it as if that's a bad thing. Bitcoin is valuable because it does not change, its proven to work, and people know that. If the downside is that there isn't as much to talk about at a conference, then I don't give a shit.

You’re right that Bitcoin is still the most valuable because it’s resistant to frivolous changes, however there’s far more development happening in the space today than ever before!

Here’s links to 3 full days of talks from the Open Source Stage at the Bitcoin 2022 conference:

https://twitter.com/ODELL/status/1513487641538269188

Each YouTube video is about 5 hours long and broken into chapters per talk.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#185

Post by [deleted] »

kuschku wrote: post #115
Capira wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buy Bitcoin. Everything else is a scam. And if you want to launder money use Dollars just like everyone else.

That’s the issue, even Bitcoin can’t really be used as currency anymore. I used bitcoin when it was still new. In our friend circle, we paid each other with thousands of bitcoins for a single pizza back then. And yet it was still more usable as currency back then than it is nowadays.

[deleted]

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#186

Post by pjerem »

trutannus wrote: post #177
keskival wrote: post #175

"How can we create a more equitable financial system, where everyone has access to banking services?" The same as national health insurance. You make a law that everyone must be served by the banks. Easy.

Use the state to fix failures of the state? There's a weird cyclic optimism here that I don't think can really be supported by the facts. After all, those who write a law can just as easily add addendum to that law, or remove it all together. Even with equal banking laws, there's always going to be an individual who the state deems as less equal than others. That's just how it's always been. Its bizarre that this is…

> Use the state to fix failures of the state?

Yup, that's how it works in democracies...

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#187

Post by the_only_law »

Traster wrote: post #46

I think toxicity from the anti-crypto crowd is basically inevitable at this point. It has been a decade of dumb claims and ridiculous assertions from the pro-crypto crowd. None of their claims have materially panned out. There's some promise in some places - mainly in the most nerdy corners of ETH, but it's still only promises. Meanwhile, this long protracted failure has been accompanied by a massive increase in stup…

Heh I actually got an ad the other day about a lawsuit related to a certain notable name and a crypto scam.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#188

Post by trutannus »

DebtDeflation wrote: post #61
Traster wrote: post #46

I think toxicity from the anti-crypto crowd is basically inevitable at this point. It has been a decade of dumb claims and ridiculous assertions from the pro-crypto crowd. None of their claims have materially panned out. There's some promise in some places - mainly in the most nerdy corners of ETH, but it's still only promises. Meanwhile, this long protracted failure has been accompanied by a massive increase in stup…

>It has been a decade of dumb claims and ridiculous assertions from the pro-crypto crowd. Agreed. For me it was the NFT'ing of a fart that was the jumping the shark moment that drove me from being merely a crypto skeptic to being vociferously anti-crypto and advocating against it at every turn.

Right, anyone can generate NFTs though. How does this differ from saying something like "the artist who called an empty room art is the jumping the shark moment, now I'm advocating against art at every turn"?

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#189

Post by SamoyedFurFluff »

jiscariot wrote: post #160
rvz wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Hence my questions about regulations that haven't been answered since you seem to answer for that other person: > Is it going away 100% guaranteed due to the rampant scams everywhere? > So since 2017, there has been no regulations, crackdowns and legislation that has been proposed to regulate anything related to crypto and nothing has changed? From the other reply: > Buy Bitcoin. Everything else is a scam. B…

HN is heavily affluent and westerner-skewed, but how about when you have a corrupt government and highly inflationary currency? We often praise projects that morph from their intended purpose in to something else (e.g. a good % of tech out there).

My understanding is that in those circumstances the people move to US dollars.

Re: On anti-crypto toxicity

#190

Post by trutannus »

pjerem wrote: post #186
trutannus wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Use the state to fix failures of the state? There's a weird cyclic optimism here that I don't think can really be supported by the facts. After all, those who write a law can just as easily add addendum to that law, or remove it all together. Even with equal banking laws, there's always going to be an individual who the state deems as less equal than others. That's just how it's always been. Its bizarre that this is…

> Use the state to fix failures of the state? Yup, that's how it works in democracies...

You have to accept though that just saying "ah, the government will fix it" when historically governments have been a major contributor to wealth inequality, is somewhat glib. There's a reason NGOs and private charity exist.

I think this approach is just as wrong as saying "crypto is the answer".

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