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That's speculative market value, though. You can't actually go to your local coffee shop with 10k in Bitcoin and buyout the stock. They may treat it like $2. I'

That's speculative market value, though. You can't actually go to your local coffee shop with 10k in Bitcoin and buyout the stock. They may treat it like $2. I'm not one of the people crying "scam", but I think most people here recognize how risky it is. If someone wants to take that risk, that's their deal.

seibelj 9y ago
It might be risky but HN is generally full of nerds that love new technology. When it comes to crypto currency suddenly everyone here is fucking Warren Buffett. We are literally living in a Neil Stephenson novel and HN as a group is collectively sticking their fingers in their ears. It’s amazing the visceral reaction crypto gets here, the people who don’t like it can’t simply ignore the posts, they write 5000 word screeds and vote with hive mind to stop alternate opinions.
- nercht12 9y ago
  More precisely, everyone here is highly skeptical, so this is nothing unusual. Everyone here should be quite well aware of all the trouble that has cycled around Bitcoin, such as DD4BC, etc. That's common with something new, but it's not unmerited either. It's an easy trap, and it's best to understand the risks before moving in. That's not to say Bitcoin doesn't have some usefulness on the fringes of the economy. It's like untraceable gambling. We already have that everywhere and society continues to function.
- Someone1234 9y ago
  It might be more constructive to answer the criticisms rather than attacking those raising them. You seem to be placing a lot of your own emotional baggage onto other people's concerns. Most people talking about Bitcoin and similar just aren't that vested into it (either literally or figuratively). For example this: > since bitcoin was $1 and missed out on the rise. So now they are actively rooting for it and all cryptos to fail, and ignore the benefits of the blockchain. The fact you perceive anyone critical of Bitcoin and similar blockchain currencies as jealous is very much deflecting your own baggage.
  - seibelj 9y ago
    What I see is a phenomenal technology that is excessively ignored and shat on for no obvious reason. For example, the Red programming language decided to focus on blockchain tech, and the most popular comment was “time to ignore Red because they are doing blockchain now”. It’s an opinion that is quite popular here. I feel the need to write so strongly to counteract the vibe. I guarantee there will be 20 popular comments above mine (which will likely go negative) that all say variations of the same thing, so it’s good to get a different opinion out there.
    - goldmouth 9y ago
      What exactly is the phenomenal technology? Most people on HN understand the Blockchain can be described as a p2p distributed database. It has great use cases, like asset registries, but im still waiting for the killer applications. Personally, I've only used cryptocurrency for buying drugs on darknet matkets. We were the people actually using btc. Until the transaction fees got crazy and people moved toward better coins.
- tedunangst 9y ago
  Can I purchase that Neal Stephenson novel with bitcoin?
flyGuyOnTheSly 9y ago
>You can't actually go to your local coffee shop with 10k in Bitcoin and buyout the stock. They may treat it like $2. My father taught me a great lesson along those lines growing up. I used to collect baseball cards, and was thrilled when I realized that one of them was "worth $20" in some baseball card collecting book that I had. I ran to my father and exclaimed with great joy that "I have a baseball card and it's worth $20!" (which was a lot of money for an 8 year old at the time...) To which he said, "Not to me it's not. I wouldn't give you anything for it. Because I don't collect baseball cards." That blew my 8 year old mind. It said it was worth $20 in the book, but my dad wouldn't pay a penny for it. (He probably should have! It's worth $100 today!) But the lesson was sound and has stuck with me ever since. I still collect the odd thing these days, but I don't pay too much attention to what some book says they're worth.

seibelj 9y ago

It might be risky but HN is generally full of nerds that love new technology. When it comes to crypto currency suddenly everyone here is fucking Warren Buffett. We are literally living in a Neil Stephenson novel and HN as a group is collectively sticking their fingers in their ears. It’s amazing the visceral reaction crypto gets here, the people who don’t like it can’t simply ignore the posts, they write 5000 word screeds and vote with hive mind to stop alternate opinions.

nercht12 9y ago
More precisely, everyone here is highly skeptical, so this is nothing unusual. Everyone here should be quite well aware of all the trouble that has cycled around Bitcoin, such as DD4BC, etc. That's common with something new, but it's not unmerited either. It's an easy trap, and it's best to understand the risks before moving in. That's not to say Bitcoin doesn't have some usefulness on the fringes of the economy. It's like untraceable gambling. We already have that everywhere and society continues to function.
Someone1234 9y ago
It might be more constructive to answer the criticisms rather than attacking those raising them. You seem to be placing a lot of your own emotional baggage onto other people's concerns. Most people talking about Bitcoin and similar just aren't that vested into it (either literally or figuratively). For example this: > since bitcoin was $1 and missed out on the rise. So now they are actively rooting for it and all cryptos to fail, and ignore the benefits of the blockchain. The fact you perceive anyone critical of Bitcoin and similar blockchain currencies as jealous is very much deflecting your own baggage.
- seibelj 9y ago
  What I see is a phenomenal technology that is excessively ignored and shat on for no obvious reason. For example, the Red programming language decided to focus on blockchain tech, and the most popular comment was “time to ignore Red because they are doing blockchain now”. It’s an opinion that is quite popular here. I feel the need to write so strongly to counteract the vibe. I guarantee there will be 20 popular comments above mine (which will likely go negative) that all say variations of the same thing, so it’s good to get a different opinion out there.
  - goldmouth 9y ago
    What exactly is the phenomenal technology? Most people on HN understand the Blockchain can be described as a p2p distributed database. It has great use cases, like asset registries, but im still waiting for the killer applications. Personally, I've only used cryptocurrency for buying drugs on darknet matkets. We were the people actually using btc. Until the transaction fees got crazy and people moved toward better coins.
tedunangst 9y ago
Can I purchase that Neal Stephenson novel with bitcoin?

flyGuyOnTheSly 9y ago

>You can't actually go to your local coffee shop with 10k in Bitcoin and buyout the stock. They may treat it like $2. My father taught me a great lesson along those lines growing up. I used to collect baseball cards, and was thrilled when I realized that one of them was "worth $20" in some baseball card collecting book that I had. I ran to my father and exclaimed with great joy that "I have a baseball card and it's worth $20!" (which was a lot of money for an 8 year old at the time...) To which he said, "Not to me it's not. I wouldn't give you anything for it. Because I don't collect baseball cards." That blew my 8 year old mind. It said it was worth $20 in the book, but my dad wouldn't pay a penny for it. (He probably should have! It's worth $100 today!) But the lesson was sound and has stuck with me ever since. I still collect the odd thing these days, but I don't pay too much attention to what some book says they're worth.