6 ms·

And it's likely that the government assaults will take an environmental angle.

• Nursie 6y ago
  Good, it uses more power than Switzerland, it's ridiculous.
  • user-the-name 6y ago
    It uses more power than Switzerland to do TWO TRANSACTIONS PER SECOND at the very most. A PC from 2004 could run this network better. It is beyond ridiculous, it's a crime against humanity.
    • disruptalot 6y ago
      Bitcoin is not simply transactions. - Bitcoin is an algorithmic and unchangeable monetary base. - It's an un-censorable, neutral global payment network - It's an immutable ledger. What are you familiar with to compare to such a thing?
      • user-the-name 6y ago
        Actually, bitcoin is simply transactions.
        • cesarb 6y ago
          To elaborate: what people think of as a "Bitcoin" (or a fraction of a Bitcoin) is under the covers the unspent output of a transaction (this includes mined coins, which are a transaction without an input). Without transactions, there's no Bitcoin.
    • celsoazevedo 6y ago
      Don't layer 2 solutions like Lightning Network greatly increase the number of transactions?
      • Nursie 6y ago
        In theory. In practice lightning channels require on-chain transactions to set up and tear down, and also have (had?) issues with nodes needing to be online for various reasons (including potentially losing the money to the counterparty), and IIRC there were potentially unsolvable routing issues too. They also require significant quantities of bitcoin to be locked into channels to make them work. It seems like a real hack.
      • user-the-name 6y ago
        Nope. For lightning to scale, it would have to solve its routing problem, which it has absolutely zero prospect of ever doing. It is an open problem in science, and considered extremely difficult.
    • rglullis 6y ago
      Your (absolutely valid) issue is with Proof-of-Work, not with Bitcoin or crypto in general. Layer-2 solutions are coming up and Ethereum is showing excellent progress towards Proof-of-Stake. Combining these two, it will not only eliminate wasteful energy spending but will also get do hundreds of thousands of transactions. When we get to those, will you stop crying for its demise or is there any other chip on your shoulder?
      • user-the-name 6y ago
        Layer two solutions are hot garbage, and will never do anything useful. Lightning is impossible and will never scale. People have been trying and failing to implement proof of stake for years and years.
        • rglullis 6y ago
          Can we agree to not take things related to Bitcoin and generalize it as the whole space for crypto? Lightning is not the only layer-2 solution there is (just as an example: Ethereum already has zk rollup-based solutions) and even if it were there is a growing number of people that are using it successfully. > People have been trying and failing to implement proof of stake for years and years. People have been trying and failing to implement heavier-than-air flight machines for years and years. So?
          • user-the-name 6y ago
            People have been trying and failing to transmute lead into gold for centuries. Some things just don't work. And proof of stake is not exactly technologically difficult. Yet it's still not here.
            • rglullis 6y ago
              There is now 2 million ether (~3 billion USD) staked for ETH2. If are so certain of it not being viable, what's stopping you from shorting it? You and every Negative Nancy out there could pool together to bet against it, no? Even if you are not interested in the money, you can donate to environmentally-friendly causes - what do you think?
  • fedreserved 6y ago
    It's a necessary cost to get everyone used to crypto, in order for central banks to roll out digital currency, eliminate cash, and ultimately eliminate all crypto that isn't from a central bank. Financial privacy no more