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Bitcoin Is Time

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Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#691

Post by vocatus_gate »

capableweb wrote: post #172
SkipperCat wrote: post #68

Bitcoin is only popular because tech workers get paid a lot and have the ability to speculate, we live in a world of massive asset bubbles created by government fiscal policies and Bitcoin is excellent for buying drugs on-line. Most people want security in their assets, which is why a majority of folks read articles about bitcoin but never touch one. All of these articles are great examples of creative writing. I do…

> Bitcoin is excellent for buying drugs on-line. Out of all cryptocurrencies that exist today, Bitcoin is probably the worst one for buying drugs online. It's pseudo-anonymous at best (compared to Zcash that is actually anonymous), slower than many others and if government agencies have tracking tools in the cryptocurrency space, Bitcoin is probably the most popular target for those tools.

Zcash is not anonymous; cloaked transactions are optional and hardly anyone uses them (so they stick out like a sore thumb). It also requires trust that the founders aren't printing hidden coins (due to its flawed "trusted initialization" procedure used at the coins inception).

Monero/XMR is the only 100% private, fungible cryptocurrency. All transactions enforced private by default, with no option to send an un-private transaction.

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#692

Post by yerwhat01010 »

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #158
yerwhat01010 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What do we get in return? Fantastic question. I've been waiting 10 years for a convincing answer; still waiting.

There are millions of people who use it, trade it, store their value in it, program more software for it etc. They see the answer, they get the point. Can you please just answer this - do you suppose they all halt what they are doing and wait for an undeterminate amount of time for you to also get it, before they can go on with their businesses and lives?

Can we at least acknowledge how far the goal posts have moved? I can remember what people were saying about Bitcoin in 2013 - that it was a revolutionary technology on par with the creation of the Internet; that it was going to completely transform our global financial system; that it was going to replace fiat currency; that it represented a dazzling new future that you’d have to be an insane Luddite to not go all-in on.

Well, where are we now? What significant advancements have occurred since 2013 as a result of Bitcoin (other than the catastrophic climate impact)? What new technologies are powered by crypto other than niche, nerdy shit which no-one outside of a handful of enthusiasts cares about? Bitcoin is now 12 years old - if Bitcoin is the next World Wide Web, then who is the Google of crypto? Who is the Amazon? Hell, does Bitcoin even have a Lycos or a Yahoo?

And yes, I acknowledge that millions of people own Bitcoin and are trading it. But what reason is there to believe in Bitcoin, other than the fact that other people believe it? Yes, I know that you could say the same of fiat currency: dollars only have value because we believe they do. But the difference is that I use fiat currency every day to accomplish real things that have an enormous material impact on my life. The only thing I’ve ever used Bitcoin for is to buy drugs - what else am I ever going to do with it, except hope that the value increases so I can sell it to another speculator?

Maybe the crypto enthusiasts are laughing at me for asking these rhetorical questions as if there isn’t an obvious answer - in which case, let me know! I don’t want to miss out on the crypto wave if it really is as big as people keep telling me. But I’ve read books about Bitcoin, delved into crypto-related code, and spent many hours of my life studying blockchain technology and trying to understand what all the fuss is about. That was a couple of years ago, and I got bored and gave up. I’ve been telling myself to take another look given the recent price surge, but I just can’t motivate myself. What am I missing? Why do people act as if this is all so obvious?

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#693

Post by arcticbull »

troycarlson wrote: post #665
chordalkeyboard wrote: post #641

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are modern solutions to transportation that are superior to cars, like rail, frequent busses, and bike infrastructure, Bicycles are nice but have lower capacity for cargo and passengers; mass transit is less flexible. So they aren’t strictly superior. > Bitcoin does not solve any problem that any other transaction network technology can't solve, How else do you propose to have a distributed ledger that is res…

Move from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake?

*proof of waste.

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#694

Post by jyrkesh »

hannasanarion wrote: post #645
SamPatt wrote: post #610

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bitcoin exists because electronic banking requires trust in centralized financial institutions. When you see the entire stock market move because the Fed chairperson makes an offhand comment about when they'll start or stop doing xyz policy, you realize having such a highly centralized system is dangerous.

Dude... the stock market is not the same thing as the banking system. How your investment porfolio reacts to a change in monetary policy has nothing whatsoever to do with the utility of your checking account. Trust in centralized financial institutions is not a problem. In fact it's is the opposite of a problem, it's an enormous benefit. Centralized financial institutions with government backing ensure the availabili…

You're right in that the stock market and the banking system are not the same thing, but I'd argue that they're intrinsically linked.

I move USD from my checking account into my investment accounts in order to buy equities, and I do that more when the Federal Reserve is pumping more liquidity into the market via low interest rates. There are many folks out there using e.g. TSLA as an inflation hedge (which is why it has a P/E > 1000) because they know that USDs will decline in value as liquidity keeps getting pumped.

If we're all using a decentralized currency like Bitcoin with a fixed inflation rate, you're going to see a lot more sanity and price stability in the equities markets.

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#695

Post by arcticbull »

yurielt wrote: post #620
hannasanarion wrote: post #587

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Accidentally because opposition to bitcoin, like opposition to cars, isn't luddite rustic anti-industrialism, it's common sense advocacy for equally modern but different solutions to the problem. Bitcoin doesn't do anything that electronic banking can't do better, and it causes a lot of harm in wasted energy and space. Cars don't do anything that busses, trains, and bicycles can't do better, and they cause a lot of h…

>Implying electronic banking can do anything about inflation Don’t be so dishonest

Inflation is not a problem so long as you invest your money as soon as you receive it and your wages keep pace with inflation (and they do). In that case the 2% per annum inflation rate only hurts you from the day you get your pay check to the day you invest it productively or spend it on necessities. In fact if you purchase your necessities on a credit card the 0% APR until your bill comes due makes inflation work for you.

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#696

Post by willis936 »

Judgmentality wrote: post #316
fwiwm2c wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop shilling. And to have the galls to say something like Nano has the ability to take on Bitcoin just indicates that you very new to this market - and thus want to make a quick buck by shilling your random shitcoin. The thing which Bitcoin has, and that few others can match, is acceptability from a large swatch of investors and predictable security/emission schedule. And, just fyi, Nano is not made of users. Go to…

> most of us are in here for the money This seems a little ironic after complaining about shilling.

Is it? It seems pretty consistent with their "cut the bullshit" theme.

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#697

Post by lordnacho »

fredfoobar wrote: post #523
perfect_kiss wrote: post #521

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same with electrobikes. Also electrobike can use multiple horse powers, instead of just one.

Will an electrobike take you home when you are blind drunk? What do we do when you run out of charge on your electrobike? what happens when there is a blackout? I don't think you've thought through all the problems properly.

> Will an electrobike take you home when you are blind drunk?

Is this really the USP of horses? Do they even do this?

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#698

Post by vocatus_gate »

tootahe45 wrote: post #412
SkipperCat wrote: post #68

Bitcoin is only popular because tech workers get paid a lot and have the ability to speculate, we live in a world of massive asset bubbles created by government fiscal policies and Bitcoin is excellent for buying drugs on-line. Most people want security in their assets, which is why a majority of folks read articles about bitcoin but never touch one. All of these articles are great examples of creative writing. I do…

I'm pretty sure it's primarily poor people buying into crypto, not tech workers. Go to r/cryptocurrency and read the posts, does it look like HN (primarily tech people)? are there any technical discussions, or is it just full of get-rich-quick hopers? hint: posts mostly consist of " tweeted about , this is good for the price of ".

Correct. If anything, tech workers like we find on HN tend to be more openly against Bitcoin (specifically) and cryptocurrency in general. The people I see buying it on /r/cryptocurrency are the ones posting "finally managed to get 0.01 BTC!"

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#699

Post by cyphertruck »

lottin wrote: post #402
cyphertruck wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That article is from 2013 and so we must grade it on a curve. He makes several wrong assumptions about how bitcoin works because he’s thinking it is based on trust, and he is an inflationist. I have yet to have an economist explain to me why deflation us bad- computers getting cheaper is good, fixed income people being able to afford things us good. Inflation mainly allows government to hand out money yo wall street…

> computers getting cheaper is good In the context of deflation goods getting 'cheaper' simply means that their nominal price falls, while real prices remain constant. If you thought that deflation makes people richer (or that inflation makes people poorer) then you were wrong.

Inly if you redefine “rich”. Increased purchasing power makes you richer, giving you a chance to build wealth. Inflation robs this from society and is oppression. I really don't care to be gaslit about economics.

Bitcoin fixes this.

Re: Bitcoin Is Time

#700

Post by hfsp »

lottin wrote: post #442
hfsp wrote: post #356

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Or maybe it comes from people who have read an Econo101 textbook and who have spent a lot of time trying to explain a crowd of Bitcoin enthusiasts why their reasoning is wrong The market decides. Not an economics "expert", nor fitting btc to an arbitrary theoretical definition of money. >It seems that tech has enabled a grand new theory about money to be implemented. Are you aware of the Austrian school of economics…

> Austrian school of economics The only school of economic thought that is built upon the rejection of the scientific method. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praxeology

Have fun staying poor.
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