4 ms·

AFAIK, stamps don’t use our resources enough to move prices for energy/chips/etc

ridaj 6y ago
Right. It's scaled up. I suppose that if people became suddenly interested in old stamps to the tune of billions of dollars, stamp-dealing would also start competing for resources with the rest of the economy.
- sesuximo 6y ago
  I think that’s wrong for a few reasons.... - a stamp uses a small amount of resources no matter how many stamps you want (more stamps may even be cheaper from economies of scale). - Bitcoin inherently relies on expensive computation to provide safety - each Bitcoin is more expensive than the last due to increasingly difficult nonces. - (dumb edge case) you can’t make old stamps so it’s hard to image using a lot of resources to find/make them. Obv not true for other products
  - bawolff 6y ago
    > each Bitcoin is more expensive than the last due to increasingly difficult nonces. Bitcoin difficulty can change in either direction.
toolz 6y ago
bitcoin uses less resources than traditional banking. I think people should stop judging it in a vacuum and instead speak in relative terms. If energy use is a concern then fiat is the greater offender. https://bitcoinist.com/banks-consume-energy-bitcoin/ https://bitcoinist.com/banks-consume-energy-bitcoin/ further crypto would be a much more flexible domain at working towards reducing carbon emission than deeply embedded and slow changing fiat systems
- root_axis 6y ago
  Bitcoin does not replace traditional banking even if you view it as a legitimate currency.
  - bingbong123 6y ago
    Why not? Do you think every financial service offered by traditional banks can't be coded and made more efficient using internet-native money (bitcoin)? If so, what services can't? People already use BTC as collateral for loans/mortgages ...which are two of the riskiest activities traditional banks engage in.
- sesuximo 6y ago
  Banks use way less energy per customer
  - yownie 6y ago
    8 years vs 150 years of technology though
  - bingbong123 6y ago
    I've walked into many semi-empty downtown brick and mortar banks with 5-10 idle employees, you want to continue paying that "innefficiency tax" in every transaction/loan/wire/credit-card/etc...? I don't think people really think through the reason there is a 20% tax on financial activity that goes through traditional banking system.

Right. It's scaled up. I suppose that if people became suddenly interested in old stamps to the tune of billions of dollars, stamp-dealing would also start competing for resources with the rest of the economy.

sesuximo 6y ago
I think that’s wrong for a few reasons.... - a stamp uses a small amount of resources no matter how many stamps you want (more stamps may even be cheaper from economies of scale). - Bitcoin inherently relies on expensive computation to provide safety - each Bitcoin is more expensive than the last due to increasingly difficult nonces. - (dumb edge case) you can’t make old stamps so it’s hard to image using a lot of resources to find/make them. Obv not true for other products
- bawolff 6y ago
  > each Bitcoin is more expensive than the last due to increasingly difficult nonces. Bitcoin difficulty can change in either direction.

toolz 6y ago

bitcoin uses less resources than traditional banking. I think people should stop judging it in a vacuum and instead speak in relative terms. If energy use is a concern then fiat is the greater offender. https://bitcoinist.com/banks-consume-energy-bitcoin/ https://bitcoinist.com/banks-consume-energy-bitcoin/ further crypto would be a much more flexible domain at working towards reducing carbon emission than deeply embedded and slow changing fiat systems

root_axis 6y ago
Bitcoin does not replace traditional banking even if you view it as a legitimate currency.
- bingbong123 6y ago
  Why not? Do you think every financial service offered by traditional banks can't be coded and made more efficient using internet-native money (bitcoin)? If so, what services can't? People already use BTC as collateral for loans/mortgages ...which are two of the riskiest activities traditional banks engage in.
sesuximo 6y ago
Banks use way less energy per customer
- yownie 6y ago
  8 years vs 150 years of technology though
- bingbong123 6y ago
  I've walked into many semi-empty downtown brick and mortar banks with 5-10 idle employees, you want to continue paying that "innefficiency tax" in every transaction/loan/wire/credit-card/etc...? I don't think people really think through the reason there is a 20% tax on financial activity that goes through traditional banking system.