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There have been lots of other currencies privately traded previously, but since the state has the guns the state can outlaw it. If it truly started competing wi

There have been lots of other currencies privately traded previously, but since the state has the guns the state can outlaw it. If it truly started competing with major currencies you would see it outlawed. It also is not secure as China is controlling a majority of the mining now and the majority can control the currency. Further, Google has a computer that can hack the encryption and you will see a lot more organizations have them soon. It consumes more power than Switzerland. It's bad for the environment. It's just a bubble and can be popped anytime. Not to mention that it is just unusable for actual legal transactions on a regular basis.

almostdigital 6y ago
> Google has a computer that can hack the encryption Citation needed
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- fullstop 6y ago
  I believe that they are referring to quantum computing
  - AuthorizedCust 6y ago
    Vaporware still, at least for practical applications.
- oconnor663 6y ago
  I think this is a roundabout way of saying Google has a quantum computer. Bitcoin does not involve encryption, and it's a common mistake by journalists to toss that buzzword in there.
  - yownie 6y ago
    All addresses are derived from public/private keypairs
- Cyph0n 6y ago
  I am guessing the poster is referring to quantum computers, which are not yet even close to breaking cryptographic hashing algorithms as far as I understand.
alexpetralia 6y ago
I've always thought a monopoly on violence trumps a monopoly on logic. I don't see how blockchain overcomes this.
mandragon 6y ago
A QC to implement shor's algo at a practical level would need millions of non-ec'ed qubits. At least publicly, we are likely quite far from any such advance.
- alacombe 6y ago
  Integer factorization (ie. Shor's algorithm) would only be useful to break RSA, not Elliptic Curve cryptography...
  - mandragon 6y ago
    ECC can be theoretically broken with Shor's algorithm: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptic-curve_cryptography#Quantum_computing_attacks https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptic-curve_cryptography#...
bitxbitxbitcoin 6y ago
It's perfectly usable for actual legal transactions on a regular basis. Which government exactly would do the outlawing? We're actually seeing the opposite.[1] [1]https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/japan-cryptocurrency-regulation-updates-2020 https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/japan-cryptocurrency-re...
ekianjo 6y ago
> It consumes more power than Switzerland. It's bad for the environment. Compared to what? You think fiat money has a zero environment footprint?
Vadoff 6y ago
According to this article: https://decrypt.co/28560/quantum-computers-could-crack-bitcoins-encryption-by-2022 https://decrypt.co/28560/quantum-computers-could-crack-bitco... It looks like you need a lot more qubits than the most powerful quantum computer we have now. Also, it's fairly trivial for Bitcoin to adopt a quantum resistant algorithm with consensus. I think the far larger problem would be every non-quantum resistant encryption on the planet being broken at once.
ekianjo 6y ago
> It's just a bubble and can be popped anytime. That's been said for years since Bitcoin emerged, this is starting to get a little old as Bitcoin survives longer and longer.
dcolkitt 6y ago
> the state has the guns the state can outlaw it The state has the guns to outlaw a lot things. Yet many of those products, I can still purchase on the local street corner. Simply having a monopoly on force isn't enough to totally stop trade in some good. Especially when that good is easy to hide, and easy to move. Crypto is pretty much the easiest good to hide and move in the history of mankind.

almostdigital 6y ago

> Google has a computer that can hack the encryption Citation needed

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
fullstop 6y ago
I believe that they are referring to quantum computing
- AuthorizedCust 6y ago
  Vaporware still, at least for practical applications.
oconnor663 6y ago
I think this is a roundabout way of saying Google has a quantum computer. Bitcoin does not involve encryption, and it's a common mistake by journalists to toss that buzzword in there.
- yownie 6y ago
  All addresses are derived from public/private keypairs
Cyph0n 6y ago
I am guessing the poster is referring to quantum computers, which are not yet even close to breaking cryptographic hashing algorithms as far as I understand.

alexpetralia 6y ago

I've always thought a monopoly on violence trumps a monopoly on logic. I don't see how blockchain overcomes this.

mandragon 6y ago

A QC to implement shor's algo at a practical level would need millions of non-ec'ed qubits. At least publicly, we are likely quite far from any such advance.

alacombe 6y ago
Integer factorization (ie. Shor's algorithm) would only be useful to break RSA, not Elliptic Curve cryptography...
- mandragon 6y ago
  ECC can be theoretically broken with Shor's algorithm: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptic-curve_cryptography#Quantum_computing_attacks https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptic-curve_cryptography#...

bitxbitxbitcoin 6y ago

It's perfectly usable for actual legal transactions on a regular basis. Which government exactly would do the outlawing? We're actually seeing the opposite.[1] [1]https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/japan-cryptocurrency-regulation-updates-2020 https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/japan-cryptocurrency-re...

ekianjo 6y ago

> It consumes more power than Switzerland. It's bad for the environment. Compared to what? You think fiat money has a zero environment footprint?

Vadoff 6y ago

According to this article: https://decrypt.co/28560/quantum-computers-could-crack-bitcoins-encryption-by-2022 https://decrypt.co/28560/quantum-computers-could-crack-bitco... It looks like you need a lot more qubits than the most powerful quantum computer we have now. Also, it's fairly trivial for Bitcoin to adopt a quantum resistant algorithm with consensus. I think the far larger problem would be every non-quantum resistant encryption on the planet being broken at once.

ekianjo 6y ago

> It's just a bubble and can be popped anytime. That's been said for years since Bitcoin emerged, this is starting to get a little old as Bitcoin survives longer and longer.

dcolkitt 6y ago

> the state has the guns the state can outlaw it The state has the guns to outlaw a lot things. Yet many of those products, I can still purchase on the local street corner. Simply having a monopoly on force isn't enough to totally stop trade in some good. Especially when that good is easy to hide, and easy to move. Crypto is pretty much the easiest good to hide and move in the history of mankind.