4 ms·

The "valuable" matches would have to do something statistically rare, like make a pattern of Jesus's face or something. And somehow be resistant to counterfeit

The "valuable" matches would have to do something statistically rare, like make a pattern of Jesus's face or something. And somehow be resistant to counterfeit matches. Then your analogy almost makes sense.

TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago
Every match head burnt is required to be slightly larger in diameter than the first, so eventually you're burning massive purpose-built “matches”.
stillbourne 8y ago
Do crypto coins make patterns of Jesus's face? Man there is something I would never have guessed. Also is counterfeit money really that big of a problem that its debasing the value of the dollar enough that we have to abandon all notions of fiat currency and replace it with an entropic commodity that burns energy to no other end? I mean I get, that the "valuable matches" are the ones that "make a coin" of whatever the jargon is but the problem is to make a "coin" takes 215 kWh to create, lets put that back into match terms, assuming one matchstick has one BTU and we convert BTU to kWh that comes to about 733610 matches at a conversion rate of 0.000293071 kWh per BTU that comes to about 2445 boxes of 300 count matches. Amazon sells a 3 pack of 300 count matches for 6.75 which comes out to about $5501.25 for 733610 count of matches. Now be aware that I'm pulling these number out of my ass, butt every match I burn has a 1 in 733610 chance of being a "Jesus Match" that means that I can burn more than that and still not end up with a match that is a Jesus Match because its a statistical argument much like the lottery. In the end what do I have to show for all of this? A huge fucking pile of used matches, and a real sense that maybe just maybe the Emperor's New Currency has value.
- hackernudes 8y ago
  What you have to show at the end of the day is a digital currency that has no central authority and yet still prevents double spending. The cycles are not wasted - they secure a digital currency. Banks and governments use immense resources to secure fiat currency.
  - stillbourne 8y ago
    >The cycles are not wasted - they secure a digital currency. But why though? Is the USD that insecure? Is fraud so prevalent that its debasing the value of currency? Do we literally need to spend 70TWh per year, and that's just in its current state as a semi novelty currency/commodity, to secure the concept of money? Can you imagine how much it would cost to run bitcoin if it was the primary reserve currency of the world?
    - vitaliksghost 8y ago
      Flippant asshat, you are.
      - stillbourne 8y ago
        It's ok, if you believe hard enough and know that your heart is pure then the Emperor's New Currency will have value. I'm just the guy asking why.
        erulabs 8y ago
        Your comments violate rule #1 of Hacker News comments. > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html We're discussing ideas here, there is no reason presuppose others ideas or behave snarkily.
        trishmapow2 8y ago
        I think you replied to the wrong person.
        erulabs 8y ago
        To both of them, but in the case of stillbourne particularly, because he is responding to every post in this thread with that tone.
- Dylan16807 8y ago
  I'm not sure what your argument was? But I'll reply with a few points. Bitcoin mining depends on finding a hash that starts with a whole bunch of zeros, which is more or less equivalent to being just close enough to a jesus that you can sell it for money. Joining a mining pool gets you a relatively fixed payout, counteracting the lottery nature. You'd only have to burn one box of matches to get a guaranteed payout of 300/730000 of a jesus match. Yes it's still a waste of power.

TazeTSchnitzel 8y ago

Every match head burnt is required to be slightly larger in diameter than the first, so eventually you're burning massive purpose-built “matches”.

stillbourne 8y ago

Do crypto coins make patterns of Jesus's face? Man there is something I would never have guessed. Also is counterfeit money really that big of a problem that its debasing the value of the dollar enough that we have to abandon all notions of fiat currency and replace it with an entropic commodity that burns energy to no other end? I mean I get, that the "valuable matches" are the ones that "make a coin" of whatever the jargon is but the problem is to make a "coin" takes 215 kWh to create, lets put that back into match terms, assuming one matchstick has one BTU and we convert BTU to kWh that comes to about 733610 matches at a conversion rate of 0.000293071 kWh per BTU that comes to about 2445 boxes of 300 count matches. Amazon sells a 3 pack of 300 count matches for 6.75 which comes out to about $5501.25 for 733610 count of matches. Now be aware that I'm pulling these number out of my ass, butt every match I burn has a 1 in 733610 chance of being a "Jesus Match" that means that I can burn more than that and still not end up with a match that is a Jesus Match because its a statistical argument much like the lottery. In the end what do I have to show for all of this? A huge fucking pile of used matches, and a real sense that maybe just maybe the Emperor's New Currency has value.

hackernudes 8y ago
What you have to show at the end of the day is a digital currency that has no central authority and yet still prevents double spending. The cycles are not wasted - they secure a digital currency. Banks and governments use immense resources to secure fiat currency.
- stillbourne 8y ago
  >The cycles are not wasted - they secure a digital currency. But why though? Is the USD that insecure? Is fraud so prevalent that its debasing the value of currency? Do we literally need to spend 70TWh per year, and that's just in its current state as a semi novelty currency/commodity, to secure the concept of money? Can you imagine how much it would cost to run bitcoin if it was the primary reserve currency of the world?
  - vitaliksghost 8y ago
    Flippant asshat, you are.
    - stillbourne 8y ago
      It's ok, if you believe hard enough and know that your heart is pure then the Emperor's New Currency will have value. I'm just the guy asking why.
      - erulabs 8y ago
        Your comments violate rule #1 of Hacker News comments. > Be civil. Don't say things you wouldn't say face-to-face. Don't be snarky. Comments should get more civil and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html We're discussing ideas here, there is no reason presuppose others ideas or behave snarkily.
        trishmapow2 8y ago
        I think you replied to the wrong person.
        erulabs 8y ago
        To both of them, but in the case of stillbourne particularly, because he is responding to every post in this thread with that tone.
Dylan16807 8y ago
I'm not sure what your argument was? But I'll reply with a few points. Bitcoin mining depends on finding a hash that starts with a whole bunch of zeros, which is more or less equivalent to being just close enough to a jesus that you can sell it for money. Joining a mining pool gets you a relatively fixed payout, counteracting the lottery nature. You'd only have to burn one box of matches to get a guaranteed payout of 300/730000 of a jesus match. Yes it's still a waste of power.