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As someone involved in this stuff since 2011, the constant "death of Bitcoin" predictions are sooooo tedious.

by drcode 9y ago

readhn 9y ago
getting the timing right is pretty much next to impossible. this does not change the fact that it will ultimately end that way.
- nrhk 9y ago
  What about the cryptomarket as a whole, 1-2$ total down from 100-200 billion?
- shlant 9y ago
  > getting the timing right is pretty much next to impossible. this does not change the fact that it will ultimately end that way The argument that anything ends at some point is fruitless. Not sure how you are separating BTC out from anything else here
- la_oveja 9y ago
  Please, can you guess me the numbers of the EuroMillions lotto?
- ericb 9y ago
  Things that enable previously impossible use-cases don't just go away.
  - sova 9y ago
    Yeah, it's a pity that more technocrats don't actually understand how bitcoin works, why it is innovative, and how supply and demand control prices.
gst 9y ago
Bitcoin only died 171 times so far: https://99bitcoins.com/obituary-stats/ https://99bitcoins.com/obituary-stats/. The first time was in December 2010 when it was priced at $0.23.
- h2so4 9y ago
  In theory, the governments may try to kill it once it reaches too far (to the point of being considered fiat money). However, the said government will also invite lots of backlash from the people and technically, no single government can stop the blockchain network completely.
  - 1001101 9y ago
    > no single government can stop the blockchain network completely Would you like to place a wager on that?
    - h2so4 9y ago
      They cannot. Once the transaction becomes part of the blockchain, its replicated to each and every node in the world (we are talking about thousands) that span the length and breadth of the planet. Thus, its practically impossible.
      - 1001101 9y ago
        Quick thought experiment: I just did a quick back of the envelope calculation on the brute force approach. 50% of the current hash rate would be 548 million retail - (current rate 8M TH/s, 1850$ retail Antminer S9 rated 13.5 TH/s). That's a quick thought on naive approach - not sure I have that right, so please check my work. I have a few other ideas as well. edit: of course, the existing hash rate would still be there, so you'd have to double it, not buy half. I still think the retail estimate is on the high side (markup, not leveraging economies of scale). My guess is that an organization like DARPA could buy Bitcoin for <250M$.
      - zodiac 9y ago
        I think large states definitely have the resources to launch 51% attacks
        h2so4 9y ago

As someone involved in this stuff since 2011, the constant "death of Bitcoin" predictions are sooooo tedious.

by drcode 9y ago

As someone involved in this stuff since 2011, the constant "death of Bitcoin" predictions are sooooo tedious.

getting the timing right is pretty much next to impossible. this does not change the fact that it will ultimately end that way.

nrhk 9y ago
What about the cryptomarket as a whole, 1-2$ total down from 100-200 billion?
shlant 9y ago
> getting the timing right is pretty much next to impossible. this does not change the fact that it will ultimately end that way The argument that anything ends at some point is fruitless. Not sure how you are separating BTC out from anything else here
la_oveja 9y ago
Please, can you guess me the numbers of the EuroMillions lotto?
ericb 9y ago
Things that enable previously impossible use-cases don't just go away.
- sova 9y ago
  Yeah, it's a pity that more technocrats don't actually understand how bitcoin works, why it is innovative, and how supply and demand control prices.

gst 9y ago

Bitcoin only died 171 times so far: https://99bitcoins.com/obituary-stats/ https://99bitcoins.com/obituary-stats/. The first time was in December 2010 when it was priced at $0.23.

h2so4 9y ago
In theory, the governments may try to kill it once it reaches too far (to the point of being considered fiat money). However, the said government will also invite lots of backlash from the people and technically, no single government can stop the blockchain network completely.
- 1001101 9y ago
  > no single government can stop the blockchain network completely Would you like to place a wager on that?
  - h2so4 9y ago
    They cannot. Once the transaction becomes part of the blockchain, its replicated to each and every node in the world (we are talking about thousands) that span the length and breadth of the planet. Thus, its practically impossible.
    - 1001101 9y ago
      Quick thought experiment: I just did a quick back of the envelope calculation on the brute force approach. 50% of the current hash rate would be 548 million retail - (current rate 8M TH/s, 1850$ retail Antminer S9 rated 13.5 TH/s). That's a quick thought on naive approach - not sure I have that right, so please check my work. I have a few other ideas as well. edit: of course, the existing hash rate would still be there, so you'd have to double it, not buy half. I still think the retail estimate is on the high side (markup, not leveraging economies of scale). My guess is that an organization like DARPA could buy Bitcoin for <250M$.
    - zodiac 9y ago
      I think large states definitely have the resources to launch 51% attacks
      - h2so4 9y ago