'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#1

Post by noch » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 2:24 PM UTC

'Minting' electronic cash (1999)
spectrum.ieee.org

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#2

Post by hprotagonist » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:08 PM UTC

1995: https://www.electricinca.com/56/stephenson/simoleon.pdf

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#3

Post by _Microft » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:14 PM UTC

Side note:

"Minting" sounds so much nicer than "mining". Minting evokes connotations of gold and kings and craftsmen doing skilled work. Mining on the other hand is dirty. I associate digging, holes in the ground, mining waste, depths and darkness with that.

Maybe crypto [0] currencies would have had it a tiny bit easier to not look like an environmentally bad idea (this is purely about the looks of it, not reality) if they had not picked such a bad word to begin with?

[0] Another bad choice of words, imo

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#4

Post by werds » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:15 PM UTC

_Microft wrote: post #3

Side note: "Minting" sounds so much nicer than "mining". Minting evokes connotations of gold and kings and craftsmen doing skilled work. Mining on the other hand is dirty. I associate digging, holes in the ground, mining waste, depths and darkness with that. Maybe crypto [0] currencies would have had it a tiny bit easier to not look like an environmentally bad idea (this is purely about the looks of it , not reality)…

with your definitions in mind, i think mining is a lot more appropriate, haha

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#5

Post by _Microft » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

werds wrote: post #4

_Microft wrote: post #3

Side note: "Minting" sounds so much nicer than "mining". Minting evokes connotations of gold and kings and craftsmen doing skilled work. Mining on the other hand is dirty. I associate digging, holes in the ground, mining waste, depths and darkness with that. Maybe crypto [0] currencies would have had it a tiny bit easier to not look like an environmentally bad idea (this is purely about the looks of it , not reality)…

with your definitions in mind, i think mining is a lot more appropriate, haha

It is! I meant that they could have whitewashed the concept by using "minting" instead of "mining".

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#6

Post by madars » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:18 PM UTC

_Microft wrote: post #3

Side note: "Minting" sounds so much nicer than "mining". Minting evokes connotations of gold and kings and craftsmen doing skilled work. Mining on the other hand is dirty. I associate digging, holes in the ground, mining waste, depths and darkness with that. Maybe crypto [0] currencies would have had it a tiny bit easier to not look like an environmentally bad idea (this is purely about the looks of it , not reality)…

Minting implies exercising seigniorage authority, whereas mining physical commodities is naturally distributed (no central authority). The latter term is much more appropriate to describe issuance-via-PoW.

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#7

Post by politician » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:19 PM UTC

_Microft wrote: post #5

werds wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

with your definitions in mind, i think mining is a lot more appropriate, haha

It is! I meant that they could have whitewashed the concept by using "minting" instead of "mining".

Or recycling. "We recycle electrons into coins!"

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#8

Post by ElvisTrout » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:29 PM UTC

_Microft wrote: post #3

Side note: "Minting" sounds so much nicer than "mining". Minting evokes connotations of gold and kings and craftsmen doing skilled work. Mining on the other hand is dirty. I associate digging, holes in the ground, mining waste, depths and darkness with that. Maybe crypto [0] currencies would have had it a tiny bit easier to not look like an environmentally bad idea (this is purely about the looks of it , not reality)…

I think given that one of the key aims of crypto was moving away from an inflationary model where new money can easily be created using a term other than minting was a conscious and considered move. Mining sounds harder and it is!

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#9

Post by _Microft » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:30 PM UTC

politician wrote: post #7

_Microft wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is! I meant that they could have whitewashed the concept by using "minting" instead of "mining".

Or recycling. "We recycle electrons into coins!"

Believe it or not but there are people who think that "Bitcoin is a battery" because it can turn energy into money (and "money is easily converted to energy again", Umm... STEM education, we need to have a word because it looks like you are not doing your job properly...).

Here is an example: https://twitter.com/balajis/status/1351214402167578626

Re: 'Minting' electronic cash (1999)

#10

Post by Jiocus » Fri, Apr 30, 2021, 4:38 PM UTC

madars wrote: post #6

_Microft wrote: post #3

Side note: "Minting" sounds so much nicer than "mining". Minting evokes connotations of gold and kings and craftsmen doing skilled work. Mining on the other hand is dirty. I associate digging, holes in the ground, mining waste, depths and darkness with that. Maybe crypto [0] currencies would have had it a tiny bit easier to not look like an environmentally bad idea (this is purely about the looks of it , not reality)…

Minting implies exercising seigniorage authority, whereas mining physical commodities is naturally distributed (no central authority). The latter term is much more appropriate to describe issuance-via-PoW.

Before you mint a coin, you have to mine the metal ore :)