Good riddance, we can finally put this bitcoin nonsense behind us. Let's add this article to the bitcoin is dead site, I'm sure it's finally the end this time! https://bitcoindeaths.com/
Gold has a utility, used in a large swath of electronics. Can always be sold to make something. Bitcoin can only be sold if there is a fiat currency trading in it
Electronics didn't exist for the thousands of years that gold was used as currency. The fact is, it only has most of the value that it does because it was rare, malleable, particularly shiny, and because metallism was simply the easiest way (or at least one of the easiest ways) to invent the concept of currency and a monetary system.
Bitcoin's utility is that you can both hold it in your hands and send it across the world in 10 minutes with no intermediaries. Can't do that with gold.
No, I get it, thank you very much. Early adopter of BTC here, I've read the whitepaper and all that, sodl when I realized what an energy pig it had become.
The only thing that separates BTC from all the derivative shitcoins is hype and stories we tell about it. Bitcoin is itself interchangeable with an infinite number of related algorithms/schemes.
Gold extraction definitely has its problems, but it's a fundamental element of the universe.
In 100 years, I know which one will definitely still hold value.
Yeah the rest of us can continue geeking out over layered network protocol design and technologies like Lightning or Liquid. There is so much going on under the hood but it is so much easier to take the piss and learn nothing. That is no surprise, with the current state of the world.
No. That's another long story. I think bitcoin is basically a scam. (That's another essay I should probably write.)
This is not to say you can't make money at it. People make money on scams all the time. One might argue that it's a foundational element of the American economy. But when it comes to bitcoin, I understand the technology and its attendant risks too well for me to want to play that game.
At the risk of digressing - do you think there's a baby in that bathwater?
I agree completely that BTC is basically a scam at this point, as are most of the top coins by market cap.
However, there are a few interesting cryptocurrency projects out there which are quietly getting better and better (ie, Nano). Do you have any interest in the potential of the field, or has BTC soured you on the whole thing?
That's a very hard question to answer because it depends on what you consider "that bathwater." I think using digital signatures is a win. But mining is a BIG lose IMHO. It is vastly better in every possible respect to rely on trusted third-parties. Even with bitcoin most people rely on TTPs because managing your own keys is fraught with all manner of peril.
> However, there are a few interesting cryptocurrency projects out there which are quietly getting better and better (ie, Nano). Do you have any interest in the potential of the field, or has BTC soured you on the whole thing?
I don't know anything about Nano. But the fact of the matter is that BTC is pretty much synonymous with crypto nowadays, and everything else (AFAICT) is riding on its coattails. No one would be taking any of it seriously if not for the fact that 1 BTC fetches USD100k or whatever it is nowadays.
His arguments about the feasibility of a 51% attack are off by an order of magnitude, and the fact that you can't easily reduce the amount of energy needed to mine is a feature, not a bug
> and the fact that you can't easily reduce the amount of energy needed to mine is a feature, not a bug
We'll have to agree to disagree about that. Most people consider gross inefficiency a bug, especially when that inefficiency is a necessary part of the design.
It's cool, but I'm wondering what the breakeven cost would have to be if you weren't planning on making money from PFOF?
Can easily see this being $5-10 a month without a problem or even $500 lifetime pass for early supporters. Also if you add Lightning Network deposits to a portfolio I would be more likely to use it, you can make money off the spread too as long as it is under 1%
You just described the current fiat system, where the top gets to benefit from the money printer while the middle class loses its purchasing power over time
