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Well, bitcoin is actually solving a real world problem, unlike diamond. Seems way too much effort and thinking for a ponzi, I mean the result is actually ground

Well, bitcoin is actually solving a real world problem, unlike diamond. Seems way too much effort and thinking for a ponzi, I mean the result is actually groundbreaking work.

pcwalton 9y ago
Bitcoin is a poor solution to the problem of transferring money: it's slow, power-inefficient, controlled by an oligopoly of miners, and vulnerable to scams.
- keymone 9y ago
  Because it’s not a primarily solution to transferring money, it’s primarily decentralized, trustless and censorship-resistant solution to that. Of course centralized solutions are cheaper and more efficient.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - mswiss 9y ago
    This and that there is a hard upper limit on the amount of bitcoin available. There will be no QE of bitcoin.
    - blibble 9y ago
      until the miners are convinced otherwise bit like the central banks
      - keymone 9y ago
        not at all like central banks because mining is decentralized. Besides, there are also users and merchants who are just as important and miners don’t dare pushing changes that nobody wants.
        littlestymaar 9y ago
        Do you realize that of miners decided to fork in favor of a model which is better fit them, there will be a shortage of block mining until the difficulty declines. Which means transactions would be frozen for around a month. I'm not sure users and merchands could stand that fight …
        keymone 9y ago
        Some already did - bitcoin cash. Rational miners realize that forcing a protocol change that isn’t acceptable to users or merchants will destroy valuation of the fork they choose to mine, so there is discebtive from such behavior. But yes, if they do it anyway, there will be period with very slow blocks and that will hurt the project a lot but then difficulty will adjust downward.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
superbrama 9y ago
Yes, early computer pioneers also engaged in groundbreaking work. A huge mainframe filled with vacuum tubes seems to fit here. That’s bitcoin, currently, but for “magic internet money”. The bandwidth, throughout, and power utilization are what you might expect from such a first generation technology experiment. The benefits of bitcoin are eclipsed by the meteoric rise, and this price increase is the basis for most new folks getting on board, not so they can use it now as a currency.
- keymone 9y ago
  1) those mainframes got people to the moon 2) nothing in bitcoin protocol precludes it from adopting more efficient solutions when such appear, what people seem to miss is that proof of work itself and energy spent securing the ledger will always correlate with value stored
  - superbrama 9y ago
    1) So, a worldwide payment solution requires a spaceship, but we have first generation mainframes currently. Bitcoin is the biggest of those mainframes, uses the most energy, etc. 2) You touched upon two independent considerations. Yes, bitcoin can evolve technologically, but it’s not assured. Energy spent is based on incentive. Value stored isn’t directly correlated, that’s a result of price which results from buyers and sellers, which results from sentiment. Now we get into disparate supply and demand based on information advantage. Energy utilization as it correlates to some incentive to expend such energy for monetary gain is indirectly coupled to the stored value. Other factors affect this. The market is not efficient, it behaves, pricewise, like many markets before it. Greatest bubble of our generation, but admittedly quite the clever one. The truth is that some Silicon Valley insiders amongst other movers and shakers saw bitcoin’s potential early on for such a rise to where we are now (and possibly way more), by design and precisely because they control the narrative. It’s been exploited by smart folks. If you had the means, foresight, and motivation, you were in a privileged position to transfer wealth to yourself. Now, this is not the case. Real people get hurt by the economic cycles we’ve seen and bitcoin is, for some, a way to be robin hood in that long time narrative.

Well, bitcoin is actually solving a real world problem, unlike diamond. Seems way too much effort and thinking for a ponzi, I mean the result is actually groundbreaking work.

pcwalton 9y ago

Bitcoin is a poor solution to the problem of transferring money: it's slow, power-inefficient, controlled by an oligopoly of miners, and vulnerable to scams.

keymone 9y ago
Because it’s not a primarily solution to transferring money, it’s primarily decentralized, trustless and censorship-resistant solution to that. Of course centralized solutions are cheaper and more efficient.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- mswiss 9y ago
  This and that there is a hard upper limit on the amount of bitcoin available. There will be no QE of bitcoin.
  - blibble 9y ago
    until the miners are convinced otherwise bit like the central banks
    - keymone 9y ago
      not at all like central banks because mining is decentralized. Besides, there are also users and merchants who are just as important and miners don’t dare pushing changes that nobody wants.
      - littlestymaar 9y ago
        Do you realize that of miners decided to fork in favor of a model which is better fit them, there will be a shortage of block mining until the difficulty declines. Which means transactions would be frozen for around a month. I'm not sure users and merchands could stand that fight …
        keymone 9y ago
        Some already did - bitcoin cash. Rational miners realize that forcing a protocol change that isn’t acceptable to users or merchants will destroy valuation of the fork they choose to mine, so there is discebtive from such behavior. But yes, if they do it anyway, there will be period with very slow blocks and that will hurt the project a lot but then difficulty will adjust downward.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

superbrama 9y ago

Yes, early computer pioneers also engaged in groundbreaking work. A huge mainframe filled with vacuum tubes seems to fit here. That’s bitcoin, currently, but for “magic internet money”. The bandwidth, throughout, and power utilization are what you might expect from such a first generation technology experiment. The benefits of bitcoin are eclipsed by the meteoric rise, and this price increase is the basis for most new folks getting on board, not so they can use it now as a currency.

keymone 9y ago
1) those mainframes got people to the moon 2) nothing in bitcoin protocol precludes it from adopting more efficient solutions when such appear, what people seem to miss is that proof of work itself and energy spent securing the ledger will always correlate with value stored
- superbrama 9y ago
  1) So, a worldwide payment solution requires a spaceship, but we have first generation mainframes currently. Bitcoin is the biggest of those mainframes, uses the most energy, etc. 2) You touched upon two independent considerations. Yes, bitcoin can evolve technologically, but it’s not assured. Energy spent is based on incentive. Value stored isn’t directly correlated, that’s a result of price which results from buyers and sellers, which results from sentiment. Now we get into disparate supply and demand based on information advantage. Energy utilization as it correlates to some incentive to expend such energy for monetary gain is indirectly coupled to the stored value. Other factors affect this. The market is not efficient, it behaves, pricewise, like many markets before it. Greatest bubble of our generation, but admittedly quite the clever one. The truth is that some Silicon Valley insiders amongst other movers and shakers saw bitcoin’s potential early on for such a rise to where we are now (and possibly way more), by design and precisely because they control the narrative. It’s been exploited by smart folks. If you had the means, foresight, and motivation, you were in a privileged position to transfer wealth to yourself. Now, this is not the case. Real people get hurt by the economic cycles we’ve seen and bitcoin is, for some, a way to be robin hood in that long time narrative.