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Yeah but Javascript can actually be used to create a blockchain or any number of applications. I bet SpaceX could land a Falcon-9 with Javascript if they wanted

Yeah but Javascript can actually be used to create a blockchain or any number of applications. I bet SpaceX could land a Falcon-9 with Javascript if they wanted nightmare difficulty. Bitcoin's main purpose for everyone I know is to buy drugs and treat as an 'investment'.

qqii 6y ago
Bitcoin is currently accepted by a large number of companies including Microsoft, Newegg and Namecheap. We've seen greater use in counties like Venezuela.
sixQuarks 6y ago
Bitcoin's main purpose is as a store of value. You have to compare it to other stores of value. Bitcoin is not the "best" store of value just like javascript is not the "best" programming language. But both are the defacto in their category. This is what I'm trying to explain.
- Closi 6y ago
  I don't think people do see it as a store of value though - they see it as an appreciating asset, as proven by the linked article and Elon investing to "maximize returns on [Tesla] cash". And very few people are using it for spending. So what does that mean? Rising prices -> More new investors buying into the currency -> further rising prices -> more new investors buying into the currency. What happens when the price eventually plateau's and stabilises? Well we know that particularly Bitcoin isn't a good currency to actually use in daily transactions, so people are going to want to take their Bitcoin winnings and do something with them. So they withdraw -> prices drop a bit -> people withdraw more -> prices drop a lot. It's bounced back before, but eventually the bounce back won't happen. There can only be so much new money pumped into the bottom to the people in the top - it's all a zero sum game, and the rich people at the start were just paid by people who joined later. As all pyramid schemes say, 'if you start now you won't be at the bottom of the pyramid!'.
- fomine3 6y ago
  Why not Ethereum?
usehackernews 6y ago
Bitcoin is offering the 30%+ of the worlds population that is unbanked an opportunity to do so. Bitcoin is providing those living in a poor economy a route to economic alternatives.
- clone1 6y ago
  How do people who don't have access to a bank get access to bitcoins?
  - jules-jules 6y ago
    Localbitcoins is one option. Lots of others.
strgcmc 6y ago
You don't know any people from Venezuela I take it, or any countries experiencing hyper-inflation. And not to say that that is THE killer use-case, but it certainly is A use-case for Bitcoin. Bitcoin started with essentially novelty and "collectibles" value, like baseball cards or celebrity signatures or fine art pieces, but doesn't depend on shifting interests or demand to justify its underlying technical/foundational values of decentralized trust. The comparison to digital gold is apt, especially if you don't stumble on the red herring that gold has physical industrial/commercial applications beyond just being shiny-and-rare-and-has-history. But, physical gold has pitfalls too: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/Mystery-of-2bn-of-loans-backed-by-fake-gold-in-China https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/Mystery-of-2bn-of-l.... What is the economic value of being able to 100% prove via battle-tested cryptography, that you own the asset that you say you do? What is the value of the technology behind being able to do that? The token's value is simply a proxy for the technology. Bitcoin being a store of value doesn't mean that, a bunch of idiots keep convincing each other that it's more and more valuable; it really means that, the global economy recognizes that they'd rather have provable ownership over X amount of bitcoin, then some equivalent $Y amount of fiat.
- Closi 6y ago
  The red herring being that there actually is some intrinsic value, rather than zero intrinsic value? And we should ignore that it has historically been a store of value for thousands of years?
  - strgcmc 6y ago
    What is the "intrinsic value" of fine art? Why is it a billion dollar industry?
    - Closi 6y ago
      Art can have intrinsic value - beauty, inspiration and enjoyment. Dependent on the artwork it may even have historic or spiritual value. Art doesn't tend to be a good thing to invest in for returns - some artworks become more culturally significant and appreciate, while others fall into obscurity and irrelevance as their style falls out of fashion (see: Damien Hurst). Insurance, sale fees e.t.c. further cut into any kind of return. What's your point? Art is valuable thus crypto is valuable? I don't think one follows the other.

qqii 6y ago

Bitcoin is currently accepted by a large number of companies including Microsoft, Newegg and Namecheap. We've seen greater use in counties like Venezuela.

sixQuarks 6y ago

Bitcoin's main purpose is as a store of value. You have to compare it to other stores of value. Bitcoin is not the "best" store of value just like javascript is not the "best" programming language. But both are the defacto in their category. This is what I'm trying to explain.

Closi 6y ago
I don't think people do see it as a store of value though - they see it as an appreciating asset, as proven by the linked article and Elon investing to "maximize returns on [Tesla] cash". And very few people are using it for spending. So what does that mean? Rising prices -> More new investors buying into the currency -> further rising prices -> more new investors buying into the currency. What happens when the price eventually plateau's and stabilises? Well we know that particularly Bitcoin isn't a good currency to actually use in daily transactions, so people are going to want to take their Bitcoin winnings and do something with them. So they withdraw -> prices drop a bit -> people withdraw more -> prices drop a lot. It's bounced back before, but eventually the bounce back won't happen. There can only be so much new money pumped into the bottom to the people in the top - it's all a zero sum game, and the rich people at the start were just paid by people who joined later. As all pyramid schemes say, 'if you start now you won't be at the bottom of the pyramid!'.
fomine3 6y ago
Why not Ethereum?

usehackernews 6y ago

Bitcoin is offering the 30%+ of the worlds population that is unbanked an opportunity to do so. Bitcoin is providing those living in a poor economy a route to economic alternatives.

clone1 6y ago
How do people who don't have access to a bank get access to bitcoins?
- jules-jules 6y ago
  Localbitcoins is one option. Lots of others.

strgcmc 6y ago

You don't know any people from Venezuela I take it, or any countries experiencing hyper-inflation. And not to say that that is THE killer use-case, but it certainly is A use-case for Bitcoin. Bitcoin started with essentially novelty and "collectibles" value, like baseball cards or celebrity signatures or fine art pieces, but doesn't depend on shifting interests or demand to justify its underlying technical/foundational values of decentralized trust. The comparison to digital gold is apt, especially if you don't stumble on the red herring that gold has physical industrial/commercial applications beyond just being shiny-and-rare-and-has-history. But, physical gold has pitfalls too: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/Mystery-of-2bn-of-loans-backed-by-fake-gold-in-China https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Caixin/Mystery-of-2bn-of-l.... What is the economic value of being able to 100% prove via battle-tested cryptography, that you own the asset that you say you do? What is the value of the technology behind being able to do that? The token's value is simply a proxy for the technology. Bitcoin being a store of value doesn't mean that, a bunch of idiots keep convincing each other that it's more and more valuable; it really means that, the global economy recognizes that they'd rather have provable ownership over X amount of bitcoin, then some equivalent $Y amount of fiat.

Closi 6y ago
The red herring being that there actually is some intrinsic value, rather than zero intrinsic value? And we should ignore that it has historically been a store of value for thousands of years?
- strgcmc 6y ago
  What is the "intrinsic value" of fine art? Why is it a billion dollar industry?
  - Closi 6y ago
    Art can have intrinsic value - beauty, inspiration and enjoyment. Dependent on the artwork it may even have historic or spiritual value. Art doesn't tend to be a good thing to invest in for returns - some artworks become more culturally significant and appreciate, while others fall into obscurity and irrelevance as their style falls out of fashion (see: Damien Hurst). Insurance, sale fees e.t.c. further cut into any kind of return. What's your point? Art is valuable thus crypto is valuable? I don't think one follows the other.