The Handwavy Technobabble Nothingburger of Crypto

Post by coralreef » Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 7:36 PM UTC

sweetbitter wrote: post #289

coralreef wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin in particular is used as a store of value, or a form of "digital gold". Everything is speculation (you hope it goes up in the future, but no one knows for sure), but large corporations are increasingly keeping a balance in Bitcoin, as are wealthy individuals and fund managers. To understand its place in the world, you need to be a bit more familiar with government bond yield and risks, money creation/monetary…

You got brainwashed into believing this by Reddit. Back in 2017 when Bitcoin was utterly crippled in usability and scalability, the centralized forums upon which information was flowing were seized by bad actors and used to manufacture this narrative. Bitcoin was intended to be peer to peer money, not digital gold.

Post by pron » Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 7:36 PM UTC

etherael wrote: post #102

pron wrote: post #63

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That argument doesn't work with currency, because money requires trust by definition (as opposed to immediate barter), and, as a backup -- enforcement. In the end, it's just a question of whether you trust a centralised authority that's ultimate accountable, however imperfectly, or decentralised authorities that are accountable only to themselves and have no enforcement power. If you give me bitcoin and I don't give…

I'll give you a bad review in a venue where your reputation is more valuable than the trade or I wouldn't trade with you to begin with. Or I would insist on an escrowed bond. There's many other ways than inserting a monopoly on violence dispensing political authority into the loop and still ensuring that transactions are suitably reliable. Big sticks just aren't a very efficient solution.

Post by smitty1e » Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 7:40 PM UTC

verdverm wrote: post #381

sjtindell wrote: post #354

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HN’s attitude is very surprising to me. I would think that they could get very excited about flash loans, decentralized exchanges (automated market makers), daos, and other concrete innovations coming out of crypto asset projects. I think it’s mostly jealousy and a feeling that they missed the boat, so they want to see it sink. I think that because I’ve had the feeling many times. They may not realize these are early…

I was excited 4 years ago when I first discovered these crypto concepts. As time has gone on and I've learned more about them, they are less interesting and come with a ton of baggage. There are interesting things like formal verification, but I expect that these types of things will be taken without the blockchain. You shouldn't dismiss HN attitudes as jealousy or asleep, that is derogatory.

Post by rawtxapp » Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 7:42 PM UTC

AlexandrB wrote: post #476

rawtxapp wrote: post #436

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That's one way of looking at it, but most stocks don't pay dividends, so that "equity" is also not that tangible either, unless you're like a majority shareholder that you can change company direction. When you buy a stock, that money doesn't go to the company, it goes to previous investor, unless the company issues more stock (usually the opposite happens). Also, Bitcoin's success doesn't mean those companies will s…

A stock literally represents a unit of ownership of the underlying company. No, it's not tangible in the "I can touch it" sense - unless you get a LOT of it as you said, but it's backed by hundreds of years of contract law precedent. When I own stock I get quarterly reports on the performance of the company - revenue, profit, etc. - these allow me to evaluate whether I think the company is doing well or poorly and ga…

Post by almostkorean » Wed, Nov 24, 2021, 7:46 PM UTC

jakear wrote: post #112

tommek4077 wrote: post #68

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Only if you do your transaction on the blockchain. Most are done internally. It's like your bank is not sending someone with a suitcase full of money just because you pay your phone bill.

It's strange to me how the only two options are "pay obscene transaction fees" or "just keep your crypto in a centralized exchange and hope they don't go MtGox". Is it impossible to achieve the stated benefit of being able to make quick and easy transactions and being decentralized? I spent some time researching the best low transaction fee easily accessible crypto for making a sort of crypto Patreon, but the vast va…