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Ugh. This will pass too. The value of Bitcoin is in the fact that nobody can control and censor it. It's black market money. If it didn't have this quality, it'
by snitko 7y ago
Ugh. This will pass too. The value of Bitcoin is in the fact that nobody can control and censor it. It's black market money. If it didn't have this quality, it'd be useless. Nobody (meaning customers) cares about Facebook launching a coin. Facebook will not be the champion of freedom. How do I know? Ask yourself, if Facebook Coin is going to be available in Crimea (currently under sanctions) or Iran (currently under sanctions) or China (where facebook is banned). The answer is of course not. Bitcoin is available in all of those places and not a single government was able to do anything about it yet.
- SomeOldThrow 7y agoYou're forgetting how much credit card transaction suck. As I see it this is the main problem facebook could solve through sheer volume of use: microtransactions. Granted this is about the worst way this future could come about....
- asaph 7y agoIf Libra is a threat to credit cards, then why are Visa and MasterCard investing at least $10M each in it?
- civicsquid 7y agoIsn't this a lot like asking why Tyson invested in Beyond Meat when BYND is a threat to Tyson? Maybe you could call this defensively "investing in the future" of your industry (if this turns out to be anything at all).
- SmellyGeekBoy 7y agoSame reason Shell, BP and Exxon invest millions every year in renewable energy?
- stefanmichael 7y agoif your company were under threat and you had the option to invest in your competitor at an early stage, wouldn't you? I don't think I agree that this is a threat to credit cards, but even if I did I think I would understand the investment.
- SomeOldThrow 7y agoDiversify or die.
- qwsxyh 7y agoDo they suck?
- chatmasta 7y agoWho thinks credit card transactions suck?
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- SomeOldThrow 7y agoI imagine you can google this.
- final_approach 7y agoI'm just going to add to this: it's been 10 years. Hacker News is still hoping very hard this so called libertarian wet dream cryptocurrency called Bitcoin will soon be out of the picture, replaced by something proper, that is fair and doesn't make you feel angry. And yet, it's still here, angering a whole bunch of people who didn't buy early and think the distribution is unfair & the political ideas behind it are awful and yet, Bitcoin is still #1 and widely used. "Blockchain not Bitcoin" hype is gone (remember how big banks invested millions blockchain projects?). Ethereum scammy ICOs hype is gone. This big-corp-coin thing will soon be gone too. And all the issues people talk about here - like solving micropayments - are already being successfully solved by Lightning Network. Quietly.
- simiones 7y agoExcept next to no one is using Bitcoin, not to mention Ethereum or Lightning Network. It's very much like the Linux Desktop - it exists, some people love it, it's never going to disappear, but it is very much a niche interest that will never be mainstream, for a multitude of reasons.
- snitko 7y agoIt is absolutely clear that every year Bitcoin is being used by more and more people or the price wouldn't be going up consistently over the years.
- Nursie 7y agoThe price is heavily manipulated and volatile, most of the volume appears to be fake, and the only major 'use' anyone is making of it is speculation. Also it hasn't gone up consistently, it's still at around 50% of its peak almost two years ago.
- snitko 7y agoLook at 10 years chart. It's been going up consistently.