41–50 of 209 posts
Bitcoin is so inefficient that it is hilarious that people complaining about the environment also buy bitcoin. If you want to buy into crypto at least go for ethereal
Ethereum is as inefficient as Bitcoin, just at a slightly smaller scale.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am talking about Proof-of-Work being attached to an 'asset' of astronomical value. Governments should ban the transaction of PoW cryptocurrencies on environmental grounds, in addition to the misallocation of computer chips.
Bitcoin without PoW has no value. It's the entire reason it works. Without expending a finite resource to produce another, you can't constrain a money supply nor prevent it from attacks. Governments would be unwise to ban a voluntary system for the same reason they don't ban any other uses of energy that people question the value of (there are plenty). In any case, it will not stop, only move. If not to another massi…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am talking about Proof-of-Work being attached to an 'asset' of astronomical value. Governments should ban the transaction of PoW cryptocurrencies on environmental grounds, in addition to the misallocation of computer chips.
Bitcoin without PoW has no value. It's the entire reason it works. Without expending a finite resource to produce another, you can't constrain a money supply nor prevent it from attacks. Governments would be unwise to ban a voluntary system for the same reason they don't ban any other uses of energy that people question the value of (there are plenty). In any case, it will not stop, only move. If not to another massi…
I've never heard of Abkhazia before, so I had to look it up. It's a partially recognized state, part of Georgia [0]. There's even been a war in 1992-1993, after the collapse of the USSR [1]. Sometimes I'm still surprised of my ignorance about important facts that happened during my lifetime. Anyway, the next question for me was: why is electricity so cheap there, and should I assume it's cheap 24/7, and therefore gen…
People are pretty poor there, and Russia supports them a lot (you can have russian passport if you live there). I assume most infrastructure is supported using russian help. It is logical Russia does not want her money spent by miners, who are probably not even from Abkhazia.
"Now I'm in power so it's my chance to grab something" is the mentality in a lot of countries.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This seems like the wrong approach. I don't see how closing large-scale mining facilities will suddenly solve the problem. As long as the energy remains cheap, mining will just move underground. I could see miners offering ordinary villagers kickbacks to "host" a few miners on their premises as to conceal the energy consumption behind what appears to be legitimate usage.
You cannot move "underground" when you are sucking that much power. The government did what they should have done, and what all governments should have done a long time ago and shut this nonsense down. It's sucking up resources and only adding to wealth inequality. Bitcoin rewarded a small group of very smart people very very very well. It then rewarded morons... hordes and hordes of morons very very well too. We wil…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This seems like the wrong approach. I don't see how closing large-scale mining facilities will suddenly solve the problem. As long as the energy remains cheap, mining will just move underground. I could see miners offering ordinary villagers kickbacks to "host" a few miners on their premises as to conceal the energy consumption behind what appears to be legitimate usage.
What is the alternative? Raise energy costs for people who may not be able to afford it because of of a few abusers?
How does the network protocol of bitcoin work? Would governments be able to block it? Can it be DDoS-ed?
So now the developing world will start using their energy to mine BTC instead of manufacturing goods for us to consume. Will this ultimately cause inflation then? Because demand for goods will not be met? This crypto experiment keeps yielding more interesting results.
I completely agree. I don't pay attention to a lot (or any) online economic circles, but I'm astounded at the pushback of high profile economists (Krugman, et al) against the shear novelty of the moment for their discipline.
Regardless of whether or not someone "believes" in bitcoin, the reality of the times is that cryptocurrencies are creating fantastically interesting economic experiemnts right under our noses. This seems like it would be the dream come true for an economist from an observational/curiosity perspective
I've never heard of Abkhazia before, so I had to look it up. It's a partially recognized state, part of Georgia [0]. There's even been a war in 1992-1993, after the collapse of the USSR [1]. Sometimes I'm still surprised of my ignorance about important facts that happened during my lifetime. Anyway, the next question for me was: why is electricity so cheap there, and should I assume it's cheap 24/7, and therefore gen…
If it weren't for its current situation, it would be a great destination for tourists.