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Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

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Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#31

Post by latchkey »

ogogmad wrote: post #13

Blockchain cryptocurrencies rely on the economic incentives of PoW (or something similar) in order to function correctly. Has anybody modelled how the miners might behave under varied circumstances? So far, the incentives seem to be working correctly, with no double-spend attacks happening.

Yes, there are a ton of papers up on arxiv on all sorts of topics around mining and PoW [1].

There have been plenty of double-spend attacks that have happened. For example, ETC has a 6.5 day deposit time on Kraken.

[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=arxiv+mining+pow

[2] https://support.kraken.com/hc/en-us/articles/203325283-Crypt...

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#33

Post by giantrobot »

bshepard wrote: post #12
Comevius wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a casual interview, not a dissertation. Beside the tone is the right one, crypto does a lot of damage to the planet and society for the benefit of a few already wealthy people, while pretending to be doing the opposite.

Surely, yes, but the whole social metasystem does a lot of damage to the planet for the benefit of the few, so why scapegoat one part of the system?

Because it is wasteful by design and gets more wasteful as it scales. Transaction fees are onerous and transactions themselves are excruciatingly slow. Then the deflationary nature of cryptocurrencies makes them terrible currencies. It makes more economic sense to hold them than spend them.

The rare events where their use doesn't involve crime are overwhelmed by the criminal uses.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#34

Post by lrvick »

pontus wrote: post #19
lordofgibbons wrote: post #10

I will gladly stop using Monero if someone can tell me how to privately transact over the internet without CC companies (and others) spying on me and selling my data. Until there is a better solution, I'll keep using it.

Well, if you want true privacy you should try Zcash.

Zcash is well designed but in practice I have yet to see any services accept it but many that accept monero.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#36

Post by willnonya »

jimbob45 wrote: post #14
lordofgibbons wrote: post #10

I will gladly stop using Monero if someone can tell me how to privately transact over the internet without CC companies (and others) spying on me and selling my data. Until there is a better solution, I'll keep using it.

Prepaid debit cards?

Where I live in the US we're not permitted to buy these with cash. We don't have to provide any identifying information to activate but we cannot legally purchase them without that link to the original card purchase.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#37

Post by lrvick »

saurik wrote: post #29
bcherny wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen them for sale in supermarkets.

They require you to log in and identify yourself before they can be activated.

Most actually do not require this. I buy visa gift cards with cash all the time from gas stations etc and spend them anywhere that does not take cash with no activation.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#38

Post by lelandfe »

bcherny wrote: post #20
yowmamasita wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you buy these without giving any personal information?

I’ve seen them for sale in supermarkets.

I've never owned crypto but I can see the appeal for privacy's sake. Even going to the market can mean sacrificing privacy – retailers are constant abusers of personal data.

Did you park at the market? Oops, they read all license plates to build a marketing profile.[0][1]

See an ad online, and then later went into the store? Oops, Google picked up on that and told the retailer.[2]

Did you leave your face uncovered when you went into the market? Oops, they use facial recognition.[3]

[0] https://www.syracuse.com/news/2014/06/who_else_is_tracking_y...

[1] https://drndata.com/

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20170523182250/https://www.washi...

[3] https://www.axios.com/2021/07/19/facial-recognition-retail-s...

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#39

Post by lrvick »

saurik wrote: post #30
giantrobot wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't tell the teller your name as you give them cash to load the card.

But they can't be activated until after you identify yourself to their website.

You are thinking of reloadable ones. Non-reloadable visa gift cards can be purchased with cash at any corner store at values up to $500 each and require no identification.

Re: Why All Cryptocurrency Should Die in a Fire

#40

Post by bad_good_guy »

rvz wrote: post #32
Gibbon1 wrote: post #17

Just remembered a couple of years ago I mentioned to a couple of friends that once the Feds zero interest rate policy ends cyrpto will collapse.

Quoted post unavailable.

Imagine focusing on a minor typo as the main premise of your argument. How sad
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