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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

#71
post #11

Bitcoin is an almost perfect exploitation of humanities fatal flaws (greed, unwillingness to acknowledge externalities - i.e. selfishness). It's that old SF-trope that the cause of many of humanity's biggest problems is humans.

Polluting and overheating the planet to make numbers in a computer go up.

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

#72

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.

With bitcoin, you are paying for security. I know if I send you a bitcoin transaction there is a high probability it won't be reverted in our lifetime, possibly ever. I'm not a maxi but these new projects don't have that guarantee yet; likely they never will.

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

#73
post #11

Bitcoin is an almost perfect exploitation of humanities fatal flaws (greed, unwillingness to acknowledge externalities - i.e. selfishness). It's that old SF-trope that the cause of many of humanity's biggest problems is humans.

This is silly. Consensus (probably, I am doubtful of PoS) isn't free. You get a choice between bitcoin mining and military force. Which do you find less harmful? Edit: I should clarify. I am saying that the status of the USD as a reserve currency has led to lots of US military action.

False choice. Bitcoin mining isn’t going to replace military force as they address different problems.

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

#74
Steve Balmer and Bill also used to call Linux a cancer but look now: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-07/hackers-b...

their OS filled with malicious stuff and who knows what kind of backdoors is when exploited by hackers, they blame it on China rather than taking responsibility of putting users at risk with vulnerable OS

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

#75

I say Bill Gates is bad for the Planet. The reality is PoW is the only consensus mechanism that is secure today. PoS is not secure. It will never be secure. It takes energy to secure money, it is that simple. We will spend as much energy as is needed to secure the bitcoin monetary supply - the economic prosperity of the planet is at risk! For all those folks out there begging for PoS bitcoin, it will never happen. Yo…

> PoS is not secure.

That is quite a huge claim. You need to give some arguments for this.

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

#76
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Come on - you’d say the same thing about the freeway that plowed through some wonderful neighborhoods and blights us with noise and pollution. It’s all good. Cars are going electric, Ethereum is going to become efficient - problem solved. /s

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

#77
post #11

Bitcoin is an almost perfect exploitation of humanities fatal flaws (greed, unwillingness to acknowledge externalities - i.e. selfishness). It's that old SF-trope that the cause of many of humanity's biggest problems is humans.

This is silly. Consensus (probably, I am doubtful of PoS) isn't free. You get a choice between bitcoin mining and military force. Which do you find less harmful? Edit: I should clarify. I am saying that the status of the USD as a reserve currency has led to lots of US military action.

why present a false dichotomy? it's more like you choose bitcoin mining and military force or just military force

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

#78
post #11

Bitcoin is an almost perfect exploitation of humanities fatal flaws (greed, unwillingness to acknowledge externalities - i.e. selfishness). It's that old SF-trope that the cause of many of humanity's biggest problems is humans.

This is silly. Consensus (probably, I am doubtful of PoS) isn't free. You get a choice between bitcoin mining and military force. Which do you find less harmful? Edit: I should clarify. I am saying that the status of the USD as a reserve currency has led to lots of US military action.

If surveillance is increased a bit more, the government won't need to use force to get your money.. they'll just use some rootkit chip on whatever device to get your private key.

I am also doubtful of PoS but perhaps there's a way to make a greener coin using some amount of trust and regulation?

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

#79

Rich old man wants you to continue using fiat money to keep you enslaved.

From Bill: "Bitcoin uses more electricity per transaction than any other method known to mankind." And he's right. Bitcoin is terrible for the planet and our future.

There are a lot of terrible things that we use or were using. I don't want to sound mean, but Windows 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 were not that great. Not to mention Windows Millennium Edition.

Think of all that electricity wasted because people could not get their work done, they had to stay longer in the office wasting water, electricity, getting frustrated, etc.

And that's all because Bill's mom was working in IBM management.

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

#80

I say Bill Gates is bad for the Planet. The reality is PoW is the only consensus mechanism that is secure today. PoS is not secure. It will never be secure. It takes energy to secure money, it is that simple. We will spend as much energy as is needed to secure the bitcoin monetary supply - the economic prosperity of the planet is at risk! For all those folks out there begging for PoS bitcoin, it will never happen. Yo…

What about proof of stake is not secure?

I think it's clear that the electrical use of proof of work will become a serious issue if Bitcoin (or similar blockchain) becomes widely adopted. Do you have a suggestion on how to address that issue, or do you believe it's a non-issue entirely?

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