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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

#31

Post by pb77 »

adflux wrote: post #8

I feel like it's a matter of time until the central banks release a coin (gold backed?) and kick Bitcoin and all other crypto's out. Keeps them in power, uses the advantages of crypto.

I think countries are going to get their own digital currency and ban crypto. I saw some news on India that they are looking to ban all crypto and just looking to push indian digital currency.

China is developing digital yuan so i am not sure what will happen to bitcoin that you own if the country deems it illegal.

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

#32

Post by endisneigh »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #20
endisneigh wrote: post #10

according to my bitcoin friends, Mr. Gates is just jealous of the bitcoin billionaires. in all seriousness - i'm actually very bullish on crypto - but I don't see any reason bitcoin will be the winner for all of entirety. to me I think all major countries will eventually invent their own digital currencies and a new coin will arrive which is simply a fixed price tied to the prices of all digital currencies.

Currency in most countries already is, effectively, digital. The vast majority of financial transactions are done digitally.

what? no they're not. just because transactions are done digitally doesn't mean the currency is digital. the dollar, for example is not a digital currency, but we in the USA are exploring it.

https://www.banking.senate.gov/hearings/the-digitization-of-...

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

#33

Post by diego_moita »

swinglock wrote: post #16

Why do I get the feeling a competing centralized system will soon be announced by one of Bill Gates companies or partners, if it has not already?...

> Why do I get the feeling a competing centralized system will soon announced by one of Bill Gates companies or partners, if it has not already?...

You probably got it from conspiration theories, the same people that believe that Gates put a microchip inside Covid vaccines.

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

#35

Post by burkaman »

hacknat wrote: post #22
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.

I do think Ethereum will overtake Bitcoin eventually in usage. In some ways it already has. Ethereum's transaction fees are set to drop like a rock over the next few years, and so many useful things are built on it already.

Doesn't Ethereum have the same environmental issues?

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

#36

Post by gnrlst »

adflux wrote: post #8

I feel like it's a matter of time until the central banks release a coin (gold backed?) and kick Bitcoin and all other crypto's out. Keeps them in power, uses the advantages of crypto.

I disagree. While it would do a lot of damage, the advantage of a properly scalable and functioning decentralized cryptocurrency (not implying BTC is the right one) is that it cannot be controlled by any central bank, or anyone else. That is the inherent elegance of such a solution. While in the Western world there is little need for a parallel monetary system except for the black market, other countries are not as fortunate and do not trust their central banks with anything (classic example is Venezuela).

You could argue Gold is still a good alternative, but owning, transferring gold is problematic unless you actually store it yourself. Any "title" to gold somewhere else can inevitably be seized by a government (or your house raided). Encryption keys are much harder to seize if taken care of properly.

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

#37

Post by dbolgheroni »

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.

Care to give some examples?

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

#38

Post by runarberg »

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.

Could anyone explain to me how proof of stake works (as opposed to proof of work), and how it is better? Has proof of stake been proven to be as robust as proof of work?

EDIT: The wikipedia article is easy to find[1]. However it is really short, looks incomplete, and has a lot of “citation needed” after each point. So I would rather ask on HN.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_stake

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