4 ms·

The beauty of Bitcoin is that my wealth will never be redistributed

by mlcrypto 6y ago

postalrat 6y ago
The beauty of bitcoin is we know exactly how much you have and where it goes.
- edoceo 6y ago
  How much BTC does @mlcrypto have then?
  - postalrat 6y ago
    Individually I can't say. But you can be sure our government does.
8note 6y ago
Sure it will. It'll just look more like the Russian or French Revolution than the New Deal.
- refurb 6y ago
  That’s why the 2nd amendment is so important.
  - toiletfuneral 6y ago
    I know you think you’re tough, but really you come across like a total coward
  - nmfisher 6y ago
    Yep, the 2nd amendment entitles you to shoot tax collectors. Exactly right.
    - refurb 6y ago
      Didn’t know it was tax collectors who redistributed wealth during the Russian and French Revolutions. The comment I replied to indicated violence being used to redistribute wealth. Is one not allowed to defend oneself against violent mobs?
practicalpants 6y ago
Fyi Bitcoin can be manipulated and your wealth effectively redistributed if more than 51% of miner nodes act adversarially. (By some calculations it's only 1/3 required). If entities with billions want to hack bitcoin they theoretically could. Surprising many don't know that Bitcoin has these takeover risks.
- serf 6y ago
  unlike other economies that are resistant to manipulation from majority stake holders? I suspect this line of thinking will usually end with "world economies are backed by military groups.", to which I have no rebuttal.
  - practicalpants 6y ago
    Not saying Bitcoin is worse just that its vulnerable... Since we don't know for sure who controls what hash power, it's even possible that quiet manipulation already takes place. On brighter side blockchain projects that require memory bound hashing algorithms are less vulnerable to takeovers since massive ASIC farms don't work afaik. Ethereum is one such approach (but ofc when they decided to undo transaction history after TheDao hack, it isn't immutable either).
- qot 6y ago
  No, a 51% attack only allows the attackers to double-spend and block future transactions while they have control over the network. Re-writing historical transactions from before the 51% attack is impossible, unless he can somehow re-write the hard drives in each node's computer. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses#Attacker_has_a_lot_of_computing_power https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses#Attacker_has_a_lot_of_...
  - practicalpants 6y ago
    I disagree with the "only", yes if a capital-intensive takeover happened they cannot take your bitcoins from your wallet, but they can still straight up destroy bitcoin or quietly enrich select parties through double spends as btc inflates. Fwiw the history can be re-written if over a long time a miner produces a longer chain due to hash power advantages in secret; when released it would by default invalidate all transactions since the secret mining began.
bitdizzy 6y ago
The analog hole applies to digital currency, too.
tablespoon 6y ago
> The beauty of Bitcoin is that my wealth will never be redistributed I'm skeptical. That's presuming Bitcoin stays stagnant, but that stagnation could also mean its downfall. Also "wealth" locked up in Bitcoin is only as good as your onramps and offramps into the mainstream economy, and it's quite possible that those can be legally closed off, putting you in the position of someone like a drug dealer if you want to access it.
ghuyjhgty 6y ago
Maybe, but you will not get to enjoy it either.
anonuser123456 6y ago
You still need a court to enforce your contract... and the men with guns own the courts.

The beauty of Bitcoin is that my wealth will never be redistributed

postalrat 6y ago

The beauty of bitcoin is we know exactly how much you have and where it goes.

edoceo 6y ago
How much BTC does @mlcrypto have then?
- postalrat 6y ago
  Individually I can't say. But you can be sure our government does.

8note 6y ago

Sure it will. It'll just look more like the Russian or French Revolution than the New Deal.

refurb 6y ago
That’s why the 2nd amendment is so important.
- toiletfuneral 6y ago
  I know you think you’re tough, but really you come across like a total coward
- nmfisher 6y ago
  Yep, the 2nd amendment entitles you to shoot tax collectors. Exactly right.
  - refurb 6y ago
    Didn’t know it was tax collectors who redistributed wealth during the Russian and French Revolutions. The comment I replied to indicated violence being used to redistribute wealth. Is one not allowed to defend oneself against violent mobs?

practicalpants 6y ago

Fyi Bitcoin can be manipulated and your wealth effectively redistributed if more than 51% of miner nodes act adversarially. (By some calculations it's only 1/3 required). If entities with billions want to hack bitcoin they theoretically could. Surprising many don't know that Bitcoin has these takeover risks.

serf 6y ago
unlike other economies that are resistant to manipulation from majority stake holders? I suspect this line of thinking will usually end with "world economies are backed by military groups.", to which I have no rebuttal.
- practicalpants 6y ago
  Not saying Bitcoin is worse just that its vulnerable... Since we don't know for sure who controls what hash power, it's even possible that quiet manipulation already takes place. On brighter side blockchain projects that require memory bound hashing algorithms are less vulnerable to takeovers since massive ASIC farms don't work afaik. Ethereum is one such approach (but ofc when they decided to undo transaction history after TheDao hack, it isn't immutable either).
qot 6y ago
No, a 51% attack only allows the attackers to double-spend and block future transactions while they have control over the network. Re-writing historical transactions from before the 51% attack is impossible, unless he can somehow re-write the hard drives in each node's computer. https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses#Attacker_has_a_lot_of_computing_power https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses#Attacker_has_a_lot_of_...
- practicalpants 6y ago
  I disagree with the "only", yes if a capital-intensive takeover happened they cannot take your bitcoins from your wallet, but they can still straight up destroy bitcoin or quietly enrich select parties through double spends as btc inflates. Fwiw the history can be re-written if over a long time a miner produces a longer chain due to hash power advantages in secret; when released it would by default invalidate all transactions since the secret mining began.

bitdizzy 6y ago

The analog hole applies to digital currency, too.

tablespoon 6y ago

> The beauty of Bitcoin is that my wealth will never be redistributed I'm skeptical. That's presuming Bitcoin stays stagnant, but that stagnation could also mean its downfall. Also "wealth" locked up in Bitcoin is only as good as your onramps and offramps into the mainstream economy, and it's quite possible that those can be legally closed off, putting you in the position of someone like a drug dealer if you want to access it.

ghuyjhgty 6y ago

Maybe, but you will not get to enjoy it either.

anonuser123456 6y ago

You still need a court to enforce your contract... and the men with guns own the courts.