Bitcoin is dead, but it was a good try
21 comments
> Privacy
> I don't think I need to elaborate this point.
I think you do need to elaborate. Bitcoin may need specific actions depending on what one desires and what one’s threat model is. But completely dismissing the privacy part is not helpful. I’ve used Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for some payments that I wanted to be private. I couldn’t ever have done that with conventional payment systems without more exposure than with the cryptocurrency.
As someone who’s been into some cryptocurrencies and later realized what bitcoiners have been saying all along — I’m a bigger believer in Bitcoin than I was when I started. Not too much on Bitcoin as a currency, but in its potential to hold value over the long term. I haven’t had the chance to try Lightning for payments yet. The other one that I prefer to use for payments is Monero.
> I don't think I need to elaborate this point.
I think you do need to elaborate. Bitcoin may need specific actions depending on what one desires and what one’s threat model is. But completely dismissing the privacy part is not helpful. I’ve used Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for some payments that I wanted to be private. I couldn’t ever have done that with conventional payment systems without more exposure than with the cryptocurrency.
As someone who’s been into some cryptocurrencies and later realized what bitcoiners have been saying all along — I’m a bigger believer in Bitcoin than I was when I started. Not too much on Bitcoin as a currency, but in its potential to hold value over the long term. I haven’t had the chance to try Lightning for payments yet. The other one that I prefer to use for payments is Monero.
Bitcoin from a privacy standpoint is not good for various reasons. First, if you make a transaction with someone, that person now knows your account and can easily find out your bitcoin balance, all due to the blockchain being public for everyone to see. Second, if the bitcoin account you are using was created on a website similar to coinbase, kraken, binance etc, your personal ID is completely tied to your bitcoin wallets created in those platforms. Of course there are ways to circomvert those but in a general sense and at its core Bitcoin is just terrible for privacy.
> if you make a transaction with someone, that person now knows your account and can easily find out your bitcoin balance
What’s an "account" in the context of Bitcoin?
What’s an "account" in the context of Bitcoin?
I used the word account but should have used the term wallet, fair point.
Try Lighting in Nostr or Stacker News.
first: https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/
> most people would call me a "Bitcoin Maximalist" (I also loved Ethereum).
I would not call you a Bitcoin maximalist. Ethereum is the opposite of Bitcoin.
> Bitcoin is not decentralized
false. Bitcoin mining pools are becoming centralized, but that is only block production. And miners are economically incentivized to include transactions because of the open fee market. Bitcoin validation is extremely decentralized. I run a node and I choose the ruleset. It’s so decentralized it takes years for a change to make it’s way in. Many argue Bitcoin is ossifying.
> nobody gives a damn about having ether.
Agreed. I’d rather own Apple stock.
> NOBODY WANT CRYPTOCURRENCIES
I want Bitcoin because I’m tired of my wealth being stolen through inflation.
In closing, you don’t sound like a Bitcoin maximalist to me. You sound like a cryptocurrency speculator that hasn’t done the work to understand what Bitcoin is.
> most people would call me a "Bitcoin Maximalist" (I also loved Ethereum).
I would not call you a Bitcoin maximalist. Ethereum is the opposite of Bitcoin.
> Bitcoin is not decentralized
false. Bitcoin mining pools are becoming centralized, but that is only block production. And miners are economically incentivized to include transactions because of the open fee market. Bitcoin validation is extremely decentralized. I run a node and I choose the ruleset. It’s so decentralized it takes years for a change to make it’s way in. Many argue Bitcoin is ossifying.
> nobody gives a damn about having ether.
Agreed. I’d rather own Apple stock.
> NOBODY WANT CRYPTOCURRENCIES
I want Bitcoin because I’m tired of my wealth being stolen through inflation.
In closing, you don’t sound like a Bitcoin maximalist to me. You sound like a cryptocurrency speculator that hasn’t done the work to understand what Bitcoin is.
> I want Bitcoin because I’m tired of my wealth being stolen through inflation.
I actually heard this many times but never understood the math behind this statement. Today is the day I dare asking. Do you mind explaining me like I'm 5 years old?
I actually heard this many times but never understood the math behind this statement. Today is the day I dare asking. Do you mind explaining me like I'm 5 years old?
When the fed prints money they debase the currency. Debasement reduces the purchasing power of the existing currency in supply. This means the dollars I traded my time and energy for can purchase less. Bitcoin does not have this problem.
Thankfully bitcoin is less susceptible to the FED printing press and more to the whims of what someone like Musk is doing on the social media platform he just bought. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Your argument makes no sense.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00401....
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00401....
The same phenomenon occurs when he talks about securities like TSLA or Dogcoin.
Your entire comment lacks substance.
Your entire comment lacks substance.
Its very easy to buy bitcoin completely permissionless without kyc on p2p trading platforms like Robosats or Bisq.
Also privacy is easy to achieve by using cashu, lightning or just doing a coinjoin with joinmarket
Also privacy is easy to achieve by using cashu, lightning or just doing a coinjoin with joinmarket
[deleted]
Gee I wonder why Blackrock did Bitcoin ETF then.
Privacy and financial independence without banks and financial companies. For that alone, it's worth it. Anyone who does not understand is a slave of the system.
I view cryptocurrencies as almost an open source alternative to the banking system. The fact that it even exists, and you can now transfer wealth across the planet without needing a bank/gov't intermediary to approve the transfer is huge, and can serve as a check on abuse of state power.
However the truth is the primary people interested in this will be people seeking to do illegal activity. The ecosystem is for criminals, organizations needing to pay ransoms, and speculators and that will never change.
However the truth is the primary people interested in this will be people seeking to do illegal activity. The ecosystem is for criminals, organizations needing to pay ransoms, and speculators and that will never change.
Without bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, ransomware wouldn’t be a thing.
Without networking software, ransomware wouldn't be a thing.
If networking disappeared our economic productivity would drop massively. It would touch all parts of life in some ways. If bitcoin disappeared few people would notice except for the IT and security teams along with insurance companies who would rejoice.
Cryptocurrencies do impose more risk on society in terms of being a channel for money transfer not condoned by nation states, and as a way for people to lose their money on gambling marketed as investment.
Cryptocurrencies are only better for normal people when a country's economy crashes.
In the meantime they're excessively expensive.
My argument is that ransomware would still be a thing.
No sense in blaming the tools when they're inevitably here.
Cryptocurrencies are only better for normal people when a country's economy crashes.
In the meantime they're excessively expensive.
My argument is that ransomware would still be a thing.
No sense in blaming the tools when they're inevitably here.
[deleted]
Here's what Satoshi wrote on the famous Bitcoin whitepaper.
My view on bitcoin is that it was the first iteration of (hopefully) many more, but it's now dead.
I've been working, studying, and passionate about the blockchain industry and crypto-"currencies" for five years. I think most people would call me a "Bitcoin Maximalist" (I also loved Ethereum). But I also think it's time to be honest. Here's some of my brain juice about some problems crypto and Bitcoin are facing.
1. Decentralization
One of bitcoin purposes is to be decentralized. I'll keep it short but it's not. More than 50% of mining power is controlled by entity under surveillance. If you want to buy bitcoin today, you will certainly have to go through some KYC. With ETF being approved, TradFi being involved etc., Bitcoin is now a magic internet token controlled by huge companies (hedge fund, bank, VC, GAFAM) with stupid people (including me) betting on believing in it.
2. Privacy
I don't think I need to elaborate this point.
3. NOBODY WANT CRYPTOCURRENCIES
(I'll speak about ether because it's the ecosystem I know the best. ) The hard truth about this whole system is that nobody gives a damn about having ether. I've never met (and I've worked with some BIG names in ethereum) A SINGLE PERSON wanting ether for the sake of having ether.
It's simple : People want ether (and cryptocurrencies) to either convert it to USD when they need it, or to bet on it (and to sell it for USD later).
This point is in my humble opinion why cryptocurrencies, as-is, is a failure as a "currency".
All of these ideas are still very fresh in my mind so I hope that you'll understand my points. Of course, almost every single crypto-related project bringed some cool ideas (from a philosophical and technical point of view), but let's face it : it was a good try but we need a lot better.
Also, the fact that early adopters were a lot favored and awarded for their trust, shows a real lack of thinking. I do think Satoshi made something incredible, but didn't expect this whole speculation and adoption (which killed the project). If he indeed expected it, then it never was about creating a new currency.
Feel free to criticize my writing and give your opinion, I'd love to hear about it. Also, I'm from Portugal so pardon some mistakes I may have made.