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Bitcoin is a disaster

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91–100 of 992 posts

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#91

> Hal shipped the prototype because he had just been told he had a terminal illness. That's from Phillip Hallam-Baker. Is there evidence Hal was Satoshi, or is this just more speculation? Or am I misunderstanding his response?

Hal is not satoshi. This is baseless speculation which puts Hal’s family at risk.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#92
post #31

That’s nonsense. Bitcoin is as good a store of value as gold due to one unique feature: scarcity. Actually, it’s even less power consuming than the gold industry and is much more transparent. I wouldn’t really advise bitcoin for anything else, like day to day transactions, although I and many of my friends have used bitcoin to transact on dark markets and it works. The only argument I’ve heard about gold being better…

Gold is very much used in almost any electronic appliance because it's a noble metal with low electric resistance.

Jade however is actually without any industrial application and is purely valued for it's scarcity.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#93
post #3

>The scarcity of block chain space has led people to re-invent every last feature of the banks they thought they were going to be escaping. This is a pretty funny point because every time I go on twitter and see people talk about crypto, what they're essentially having is a discussion about public policy, and often they seem to try to reinvent institutions that already exist without even knowing it. From market-maker…

I don't see the irony. The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen. That institutions can be built on top of that, and that some people want such institutions, doesn't change the novel utility of finally having a currency that functions like digital cash. It's like saying it's ironic that people use physical USD for anonymous p2p transactions…

>> The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen.

The emergent cartel of miners becomes that.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#95
post #3

>The scarcity of block chain space has led people to re-invent every last feature of the banks they thought they were going to be escaping. This is a pretty funny point because every time I go on twitter and see people talk about crypto, what they're essentially having is a discussion about public policy, and often they seem to try to reinvent institutions that already exist without even knowing it. From market-maker…

I don't see the irony. The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen. That institutions can be built on top of that, and that some people want such institutions, doesn't change the novel utility of finally having a currency that functions like digital cash. It's like saying it's ironic that people use physical USD for anonymous p2p transactions…

No one treats Bitcoin as a currency. It’s treated as an investment vehicle.

And the reason behind that is obvious. Something whose value may double in a month or whose value may halve within weeks is a terrible currency.

If I expect it’s value to increase then I would be a fool to spend it. If I expect it’s value to drop I would be a fool to accept it.

Cryptocurrencies are anything but currencies.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#96

This is written from the perspective of a person who believes in blockchain-based currencies but thinks Bitcoin as an implementation of said currency is a failure. He thinks the concept of mining is a fundamental flaw. But he keeps the door open for different implementations. Personally, I think the whole concept of blockchain-based currencies is flawed. But let’s not go there right now. The value of Bitcoin is very…

I agree that it’s inherently flawed, however I don’t see how it would be big enough to trigger another 2008. That seems way out of proportion to me. I think bitcoins affect on the real economy is just too small.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#97
post #53

Related: the current rise of Bitcoin prices has been peculiar to me, and seems to be a bit of a canary in an inflationary coal mine. We've injected trillions of dollars of fiat into the economy this year. It feels like the sky-high valuations of technology companies and Bitcoin are "shock absorbers" of sorts, or early signals of inflation-yet-to-come. If we assume the market is efficiently pricing these assets (like…

BTC prices have approximately zero relation to inflation in the real economy (for whatever definition of that you want to use). Rising BTC prices are driven by pyramid scams, fraud, and speculation. There is no useful signal here related to anything else.

(or) you are wrong and there are some people who see asset inflation caused by stupid governments printing for everything and moving away wealth from these systems into Bitcoin.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you believe there should be no capital gains on it?

because you can't use it as a money if you need to pay capital gains on every stick of gum you buy. they should find other ways to collect taxes that doesn't inhibit it.

If you held any other foreign currency you would have to track it like this. For example, I live in Canada and if I bought USD and then spent it over the course of a year in Canada I would be responsible for the capital gain tracked on each expenditure based on the day's exchange rate. It's hard to see how Bitcoin should be any different.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#99
post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't see the irony. The point is that Bitcoin has introduced an actual "digital cash" currency without institutional/governmental middlemen. That institutions can be built on top of that, and that some people want such institutions, doesn't change the novel utility of finally having a currency that functions like digital cash. It's like saying it's ironic that people use physical USD for anonymous p2p transactions…

What's "digital cash" in this context? What does it offer extra compared to regular cash and online payments?

Theoretically companies like Mindgeek who have been kicked off of the VISA/Mastercard duopoly, would be able to use Bitcoin as a censorship-resistant way to accept online payment. There's additional benefits as mentioned earlier like not needing to comply with KYC laws.

Of course, as Bitcoin currently stands, it's difficult for this to come to fruition because most holders are speculators rather than people interested in using it as currency.

Re: Bitcoin is a disaster

#100
post #3

>The scarcity of block chain space has led people to re-invent every last feature of the banks they thought they were going to be escaping. This is a pretty funny point because every time I go on twitter and see people talk about crypto, what they're essentially having is a discussion about public policy, and often they seem to try to reinvent institutions that already exist without even knowing it. From market-maker…

nothing wrong with reinventing the old stuff as long as the new ones are better.
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