Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or use PoS to avoid the situation entirely.
It's not clear you get to keep the good parts of PoW then.
What do you consider the good parts of PoW to be? (serious question)
Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
201–210 of 257 posts
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#202Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think that's really true... it was true for things like TCP, http, and email, which had massive network effects and little competition at their start. But Bitcoin is already only 60% of the total market cap of all cryptos. While bitcoin was already a monopoly, Ethereum came from nowhere to become 1/3 its size (and growing). "Good enough" is not good enough here. Competition is alive and well. Without active d…
How much of ETH's price is propped up by speculation? I don't know of any stores that take ETH, while plenty take BTC. BTC also completely runs the economy of the DarkNet. I believe all cryptocurrencies are somewhat propped up by speculation, but BTC is still the preferred currency for the vast majority of people using cryptocurrencies for the actual exchange of goods and services. That's how BTC derives its value (+…
Neither of those things are completely true. While bitcoin is accepted at some merchants, volume is pretty low. Several have removed it. People don't really use it to buy things, precisely because the network is stagnating and congested. The vast majority of Bitcoin's value derives from speculation, just like Ethereum.
Also, Monero is also on equal terms with Bitcoin when it comes to dark net markets. Another crypto with an actual valuable distinguishing feature (true anonymity) has more of a use case than Bitcoin here.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#203This is all gonna end bad
It always ends with a correction, although I don't agree that this is bad.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#204Why should I use litecoin for transfer money when there is bitcoin with more liquidity? I really don't get this yet. Anyone could explain? PS: I am a Bitcoin enthusiast, and I am not criticizing Litecoin, I just want to understand the possible advantages it could have.
Litecoin has a fraction of the transaction fees of bitcoin, so instead of buying something that costs $10 and paying about $1 in miners fees, with LTC you would pay a few pennies at most. Granted, most retailers only accept Bitcoin if they accept cryptocurrency at all, but this may change as more people use LTC for smaller payments.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#205Litecoin is now back because of Segwit. It's Bitcoin's hope to push a final acceptance of Segwit on Bitcoin. But, it doesn't have a real value in my opinion. About cryptocurrencies in general I can say that I use them to get payments and to pay employees and I find them very useful and the user experience is much better than normal banking (fast international transfers and complete tracking) and no need for KYC.
I would modify that slightly and say Litecoin is back because of the Lightning Network, which benefits greatly from features provided by Segwit, and which itself leverages payment channels backed by multi-sig addresses. While Lightning can be enabled without Segwit, it's far more trustworthy with it, than without it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpfvhiqFw7A
> which benefits greatly from features provided by Segwit
Which is only possible because of the features provided by SegWit.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#206Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not clear you get to keep the good parts of PoW then.
What do you consider the good parts of PoW to be? (serious question)
Considering the core algorithms behind proof of stake have been around since the 80's, and that Bitcoin's core contribution is usually cited as PoW, there are probably some good parts.
It's a weird concept to accept but actually the really interesting and useful property of PoW is that you can provide a proof that you destroyed physical resources (provably wasting electricity) which are committed to one and exactly one interpretation of history.
Stake based systems lock or burn or manage coins, but there's no provable tether from those coins (defined only within the system) to the real world.
PoW has an undeniable tether to the real world in the form of waste.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#207I don't really get the draw towards crypto-currencies - aside from mining them to bring more into the pool of available currency - is there a point to purchasing or using them to make purchases? Is there a reason I should start using these currencies? Aside from trading currencies to make a few bucks?
It is a radically new and experimental type of money with a unique set of strengths and weaknesses. In some situations it is currently superior to all other options. Bitcoin is available anywhere the internet is available (so it cannot be censored), and has a relatively low, flat transaction fee. This gives it utility in money transfers. It is also secured with cryptography and anonymous (yet not completely un-tracea…
Bitcoin is pseudonymous, not anonymous.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#208I don't really get the draw towards crypto-currencies - aside from mining them to bring more into the pool of available currency - is there a point to purchasing or using them to make purchases? Is there a reason I should start using these currencies? Aside from trading currencies to make a few bucks?
The primary draw to cryptocurrencies as a currencies is one of principle and theory - many people are enamored by the notion of a currency that is outside of the control of any government or other centralized entity. It's the same drive that draws people to any sort of cryptography.
The primary draw to cryptocurrencies as commodities is the mere fact that they exist. It's pretty much a universal constant that a speculative market will arise around anything that can be traded.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#209Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would love someone to explain to me why using insider news is a crime. Because a market isn't fair if everyone doesn't have the same information available to them. Trading on insider information is literally stealing from those who don't have it. Imagine the CEO of a company knowing he's about to announce bad news and shorting his own stock ahead of the announcement to make millions from it, then buying it all up…
Oh, ok. I see the point, thanks for explaining. That's funny because fairness was exactly what I had in mind to _allow_ insider trading, but using the point of view of fairness between investors and workers, rather than fairness between investors. What would you think about allowing insider trading, but only once during career at company and only if you're not an executive? Or maybe just allowing it for a moderate am…
I think no, it's theft whether you do it once or many times; you are stealing money from investors who cannot make a decision fairly because they don't have the "private" information you do. Insider trading is theft.
Re: Coinbase adds support for Litecoin
#210Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what's cool about a ponzi scheme. The end doesn't matter as long as there's enough bumps on the ride to bring in fresh suckers.
Do you even know what a ponzi scheme is?
Yes. What part of a crypto currency with no established usage outside of speculation would exclude it from being labeled as such?