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Why I’m Cryptophobic

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Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#411

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

pbalau wrote: post #321
smoldesu wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well-staffed tech companies building web3 applications often build their own implicit L2 solutions because it’s just how you connect things in a distributed system with modern L1 blockchain constraints. Sure. The banks do the exact same thing, which is what makes them so goddamn profitable to run. The problem is that the entire cryptocurrency space now has to choose between two destinies: a. Default on the trustles…

> I'd rather have a $20 bill than $20,000 of Monopoly money All currencies we use are smoke and mirrors. The difference is that that $20 bill is backed by well armed US Marines and an crypto currency is not

Can I sell the underlying Marines in the event I lose faith in the investment?

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#412

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

smoldesu wrote: post #297
stingraycharles wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m a relative crypto noob, but I did see certain “lightspeed” transactions which would allow for high-volume and “instant” transactions. Is this also considered an L2 chain, or not? If not, how does it circumvent the limitations of the bitcoin blockchain without sacrificing transparency?

> Is this also considered an L2 chain, or not? I can't say for sure without actually seeing the tech, but if a company promises to scale cryptocurrency transactions then they're probably doing it on an L2 chain. The problems with this are obvious: trusting a single party to handle all of your transactions and not abuse that insider info is crazy. These people are going to use their power over the chain to eke out eve…

What about a decentralized L2 with zk-proofs?

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#413

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

jrm4 wrote: post #372
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the argument for this would be that things like smart contracts could do away with lawyers and such. Except who vets the smart contracts? How does the customer execute the transaction in a fool proof way?

You've perfectly hit why "Smart Contracts" are perhaps literally the worst named thing in tech. They're not smart, and they're not contracts. In real life, the things we "Contracts" are not the the execution of the transaction itself, they are the written statement that attempts to describe the intent of the parties and most importantly -- what you do if things go wrong. Despite what I've said above, I will definitel…

They're definitely contracts, just programming ones, not legal.

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#414

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

LtWorf wrote: post #396
tablespoon wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The US, additionally, forces the world to use it for oil trades. That is not true. The US isn't forcing anyone to use the dollar, e.g.: https://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-arabia-considers-acceptin...

The last countries that considered it seriously were bombed and invaded…

"We came, we saw, he died."

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#415

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

throwaway413 wrote: post #338
mattwilsonn888 wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not deep. This is you getting confused about how money works. Nothing you are realizing applies specially to specific money like gold or Bitcoin - it applies to all money and frankly it makes little sense.

Would you mind elaborating please? I am not following your point. I understand cash has this same issue. Assets do not - they provide an actual value to the physical world - which is what my point was in the above statement. A crypto t shirt can still provide value as a t shirt, regardless of the value of the coins it holds. I’ll admit it’s a reach, but just to illustrate the point.

Bitcoin is the same value-add as cash because you can basically redeem it anywhere now, with few speedbumps if any due diligence is done.

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#416

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

jesushax wrote: post #198
tuesdayrain wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Even gold, at least I can wear it and display my wealth. You can’t even display your crypto wealth like that I'd feel much safer displaying large sums of wealth online by posting a wallet than by wearing luxury goods in public.

Totally agree. For example, I have 10,000 SOL (Solana tokens) that I regularly screenshot and show off. It's all on devnet, though, so it's free and worthless. It's the web3 version - in web 2 I'd be instagramming my knockoff Rolex I bought in Tijuana

Bad example.

Would you show off real SOL tokens of that qty?

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#417

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

throwaway413 wrote: post #339
bckr wrote: post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> someone can just pull a necklace right off you I wonder if there's an argument to be made that nothing is of any real value unless there's also some risk of losing it. e.g. you drop your apple in a gutter, or someone takes it from you, or it turns out to have a nice fat worm inside it

I like that. Risk of losing it, and difficulty of recovery of the same or an equal asset. Life, for example, is extremely valuable. Everyone loses it, but there’s no getting it back. If you lose the apple, you can probably get another relatively easily, unless we’re talking a post-apocalypse situation…

As long as people are willing to take cryptocurrency, people will be willing to steal, or work for, cryptocurrency.

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#418

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

anbende wrote: post #272
mathattack wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will play the devils advocate here. What if it’s value is more like a store of value (gold) rather than a currency. We can’t pay all of our bills in gold, but it’s a store of value you can buy in and out of. I don’t have a horse in the race, just trying to understand.

Right, except that gold has inherent value. Historically we thought it was pretty and made jewelry out of it. It’s important for a variety of technology products. It’s a value store because it is consistently valuable first. Bitcoin skips that step.

Gold is nearly worthless as an investment vehicle for a generation or two that will never own a single property.

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#419

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

LtWorf wrote: post #397
mattwilsonn888 wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gold pays for that step. No one sensible would prefer the gold UX compared to Bitcoin. It beats it in every way other than 'shiny!'

Gold works when the internet is down :)

So does handing over a physical wallet.

Also, nobody quits MasterCard et al because it relies on the internet...the transactions are cached, and the few problems when things come back online are dealt with as a standard "doing business" item — everywhere from insurance agencies to corner stores.

Re: Why I’m Cryptophobic

#420

Post by aaaaaaaaata »

nonrandomstring wrote: post #247
anonporridge wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxes aren't why money generally works (money emerges naturally in human societies), but taxes are what makes national currencies work. If you don't pay your taxes, you don't get to participate in the local economy for very long. Men with guns will eventually come to your home and take your stuff and/or take your freedom. You can't even do direct barter without cash without incurring a tax obligation in the US, https…

> The simple truth is that every government is at its core the biggest, baddest gang in the land. Were. I don't know if you subscribe to the political analysis of Adam Curtis but in the past two decades governments have been passing their power to private banks, corporations, QANGOs and "non majoritarian" think-tanks like it's a hot potato. The new breed of politicians are not statesmen but revolving-door temporary m…

> Physical currency is an absolutely vital component of a stable economy. Its very lack of instantaneous fluidity (it relative inconvenience) means it acts like a capacitor to stabilise markets if you can manage circulation and interest. Moreover, governments have a strict monopoly on that, and physical currencies can take on many new guises with modern cash technology. Abandoning that would be suicide.

Governments are made of individual actors, in the US these are often buying cryptocurrency. Their friends have invested in and built cryptocurrency companies. They hold investments in cryptocurrency companies.

Cryptocurrency IS the capacitor you're talking about, the policy of the US is showing this more weekly.

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