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I'm not defending Bitcoin as the ultimate cryptocurrency; I think it's inarguable that it remains the most empirically successful so far. Whether that's first-m

I'm not defending Bitcoin as the ultimate cryptocurrency; I think it's inarguable that it remains the most empirically successful so far. Whether that's first-mover advantage, network effects, a hardware-capable PoW function, or that it struck closer to the right balance of concerns, who knows? I don't agree that the energy consumption is a real concern because we don't have a comparison here for what other currencies cost. The cost seems like it should be fairly efficient because there are competing uses for energy. I'm not sure exactly what the quoted text is trying to say or how it is relevant. I guess towards the notion of "decentralization"? What I would say here is that the reality is that we don't know the gini coefficient of a single thing in the universe except goods that are extraordinarily scarce (like "Mona Lisa paintings"). The estimates for these things for real-world currencies are laughably bad; they are based on self-reported statistics and upsampling, and they rarely reflect the actual scarce good -- effectively M0 of a single currency, which is a number we don't even have for Bitcoin because exchanges represent aggregated possession rather than actual ownership. So my point here is that yes, maybe that Gini coefficient looks bad, but it's the first time that we've even had a moderately realistic look at what a Gini coefficient looks like. Maybe they all look like this -- maybe gold is .99+, maybe Dollars are .99+, maybe Euros are .99+, maybe cigarettes in prison are .99+? Nakomoto coefficient is even more immeasurable for anything but cryptocurrencies, and also disregards aggregated records of deposits.

woah 7y ago
Bitcoin is not inarguably the most successful cryptocurrency. It has completely failed at its stated aim of facilitating payments, and cannot coordinate the necessary technical changes for that to be realistic. It has also failed as a platform for programmable money, since its programming language is almost impossible to work with, and once again, it has been unable to coordinate the necessary changes to implement a working language. What is “the most successful cryptocurrency”? I don’t know, but I would vote for one of those that set out as a development platform, and have successfully ignited a huge amount of experimentation on novel financial and organizational instruments (although their value may be unfounded).
- AndrewUnmuted 7y ago
  This confuses me. I make multiple payments every month in bitcoin to fund various web services (i.e. tarsnap, gandi). In fact, I've never had an issue with a bitcoin payment going through. Ultimately, I find the process of paying with Bitcoin to be a joy. I hold my smartphone's camera up to a QR code on my screen, and BAM - payment complete. Yes, most other cryptocurrencies provide the same thing. But Bitcoin provided it first.
  - beagle3 7y ago
    Which app/wallet/environment are you using? Do you have any other recommendations?
    - AndrewUnmuted 7y ago
      I make payments on my iPhone with Bread Wallet [0]. Have used it for several years, with zero issues. [0] https://brd.com/ https://brd.com/
- andirk 7y ago
  This confuses me. I have used Bitcoin as a method of purchasing goods and services and it's quite easy, and indeed fun. Buy some BTC or some Koinye or some other space cash and have your funs.

woah 7y ago

Bitcoin is not inarguably the most successful cryptocurrency. It has completely failed at its stated aim of facilitating payments, and cannot coordinate the necessary technical changes for that to be realistic. It has also failed as a platform for programmable money, since its programming language is almost impossible to work with, and once again, it has been unable to coordinate the necessary changes to implement a working language. What is “the most successful cryptocurrency”? I don’t know, but I would vote for one of those that set out as a development platform, and have successfully ignited a huge amount of experimentation on novel financial and organizational instruments (although their value may be unfounded).

AndrewUnmuted 7y ago
This confuses me. I make multiple payments every month in bitcoin to fund various web services (i.e. tarsnap, gandi). In fact, I've never had an issue with a bitcoin payment going through. Ultimately, I find the process of paying with Bitcoin to be a joy. I hold my smartphone's camera up to a QR code on my screen, and BAM - payment complete. Yes, most other cryptocurrencies provide the same thing. But Bitcoin provided it first.
- beagle3 7y ago
  Which app/wallet/environment are you using? Do you have any other recommendations?
  - AndrewUnmuted 7y ago
    I make payments on my iPhone with Bread Wallet [0]. Have used it for several years, with zero issues. [0] https://brd.com/ https://brd.com/
andirk 7y ago
This confuses me. I have used Bitcoin as a method of purchasing goods and services and it's quite easy, and indeed fun. Buy some BTC or some Koinye or some other space cash and have your funs.