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Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

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Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#141

Post by rfd4sgmk8u »

Osiris wrote: post #80
rfd4sgmk8u wrote: post #56

I say Bill Gates is bad for the Planet. The reality is PoW is the only consensus mechanism that is secure today. PoS is not secure. It will never be secure. It takes energy to secure money, it is that simple. We will spend as much energy as is needed to secure the bitcoin monetary supply - the economic prosperity of the planet is at risk! For all those folks out there begging for PoS bitcoin, it will never happen. Yo…

What about proof of stake is not secure? I think it's clear that the electrical use of proof of work will become a serious issue if Bitcoin (or similar blockchain) becomes widely adopted. Do you have a suggestion on how to address that issue, or do you believe it's a non-issue entirely?

It is entirely an non-issue. Nobody has the right to say how others use energy.

One can make an argument about transmission efficiency, and generation materials (and how renewable sources are more efficient), thus profitable for both the planet and the miner. But the actual use of energy? Get out of here. Tired arguments that I thought died years ago.

Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#142

Post by tw04 »

whoisninja wrote: post #74

Steve Balmer and Bill also used to call Linux a cancer but look now: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-07/hackers-b... their OS filled with malicious stuff and who knows what kind of backdoors is when exploited by hackers, they blame it on China rather than taking responsibility of putting users at risk with vulnerable OS

I guess I don't follow the "Look now". Every large piece of software has security vulnerabilities. If MS were refusing to patch their software I guess you'd have a point - the fact they released a patch and people who didn't apply it are getting exploited isn't really relevant to whether or not bitcoin is bad for the planet.

>their OS filled with malicious stuff and who knows what kind of backdoors is when exploited by hackers

You're going to need some citations if you're going to claim windows server has intentional "malicious stuff and backdoors". That's a bold claim to make without evidence.

Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#143

Post by gnrlst »

wbobeirne wrote: post #98
jetpackjoe wrote: post #9

There are so many better crypto-currencies. Better for the environment because they use proof-of-stake, and not proof-of-work. Better for users because transactions are confirmed in seconds, not hours, and without the ridiculous fees that Bitcoin has. I think this shows how truly powerful the network effect, and being first to market is. Because without those things, Bitcoin would be nothing.

What defines a currency being "better" than another? Is it number of transactions? Is it acceptance among merchants? Is it low fees? Is it stability in purchasing power? Is it likelihood that there will be a fatal flaw in the system that causes financial loss? Every project has its own strengths and weaknesses, but it's hard to argue that Bitcoin isn't the best on many of those measures. It's all about which of them…

All the features mentioned above. For example:

- transaction times

- energy consumption

- scalability (BTC currently does 7tx/s)

- security (BTC is getting more centralized over time, increasing the risk of a majority takeover.)

- fewer fees as possible (ideally 0)

BTC only has first mover advantage, and security...for now.

Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#144

Post by rawtxapp »

A12-B wrote: post #115
meddlepal wrote: post #58

What is up with the comments in this thread? Feels like tons of them are bot written. Weird attacks on Bill Gates and Microsoft all over the place.

The type of person hackernews respects the most - a billionaire - told them that their favourite toy is bad.

Bitcoin is anything but HN's favorite toy.

Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#145

Post by andrewclunn »

shiado wrote: post #62

The irony is that the exact society destabilizing grand visions of the future billionaires advocate for are some of the main drivers behind people embracing Bitcoin. If you push a "you own nothing" WEF approved dystopian tech oligarch reality don't be surprised when people adopt an asset that cannot be confiscated by the government.

People who claim that the world must be saved by them are blinded by the righteousness of their cause. So much that they forget to ask if perhaps instead the world must be saved from them. Then, seeing how they are vilified by those they believe they must save, they either come to see humanity as sinful and unworthy of their help (ironically the better outcome) or as children, incapable of knowing what's best for themselves. Bill Gates is a clear example of the second.

Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#147

Post by throwaway4good »

nindalf wrote: post #116
rustybelt wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. What? This may be the worst false dichotomy I've ever seen.

How so? Seems correct to me. Just this morning I had the choice of paying for groceries either with Bitcoin or by launching a violent invasion of the store.

But did neither due to the high transaction costs?

Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#148

Post by whoisninja »

rustybelt wrote: post #130
whoisninja wrote: post #74

Steve Balmer and Bill also used to call Linux a cancer but look now: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-07/hackers-b... their OS filled with malicious stuff and who knows what kind of backdoors is when exploited by hackers, they blame it on China rather than taking responsibility of putting users at risk with vulnerable OS

Are you refusing to consider the negative externalities of Bitcoin because Microsoft executives bad-mouthed Linux twenty years ago?

i never said that, i just said it doesn't matter what these people say. think for yourself. If you believe Bitcoin pollutes the environment, fine by me - i have no issue.

Re: Bill Gates Says that Bitcoin is bad For the Planet

#149

Post by knuthsat »

jetpackjoe wrote: post #9

There are so many better crypto-currencies. Better for the environment because they use proof-of-stake, and not proof-of-work. Better for users because transactions are confirmed in seconds, not hours, and without the ridiculous fees that Bitcoin has. I think this shows how truly powerful the network effect, and being first to market is. Because without those things, Bitcoin would be nothing.

Unfortunately, there really aren't that many better. Full transaction privacy (addresses not visible to public + amounts not visible to public) does not exist in any of the top 10.

+ offline transactions should be possible (allowing sync with the chain whenever), but also I do not think any have that.

A good crypto-currency is like cash, with a nice physical gauge theory (allowing offline transactions) guaranteeing security + any transaction processing rate.

Every single cryptocurrency now is still a research project first.

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