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Bitcoin is not a battery for the very simple reason that it does not store energy: you cannot turn a bitcoin directly back into energy. Proof that energy has b

Bitcoin is not a battery for the very simple reason that it does not store energy: you cannot turn a bitcoin directly back into energy. Proof that energy has been expended has no intrinsic value at all. If it did, we would not throw out burnt toast. But it is mere entropy.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
tantalor 6y ago
Bitcoin is money, which can be exchanged for goods & services: buy wholesale electricity, or the means to produce it yourself; so the bitcoin -> energy analogy works. I'm not sure what you mean by "directly".
- capableweb 6y ago
  With that argument anything is a battery if you can find the right buyer. Used panties? Batteries. I feel like the argument of "Bitcoin is a battery" was never well done in the first place, since obviously batteries usually have to actually "store energy" and eventually "output energy" again. Something Bitcoin does not do.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - knocte 6y ago
    You cannot have your hydro power plant generate panties.
- africanboy 6y ago
  is sex a battery?
- SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
  What I mean is: at the intersection of deliberately not understanding what in physics terms is actually "a battery", and not understanding what in financial terms is actually "a store of value"; you will find BitCoin fans.
ada1981 6y ago
I tend to like eating burnt toast.
fastball 6y ago
Yes, but I think the "battery" was just too much of a stretch from the original blog post, but not really "the point". The argument in general is that Bitcoin mining is a better-than-nothing use for stranded energy, which does not then imply that it is a "battery". Quibbling over what qualifies as a battery is besides the point, I think.
- SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
  > Quibbling over what qualifies as a battery is besides the point, I think What is the point of this hand-waving, meaning-erasing, semantic drift then? The term "battery" has a definition, the term "store of value" has a definition too, a different one. It that what they're groping for? There is no need for this amateur-hour waffle.
jonathanpeterwu 6y ago
Bitcoin is not a battery it is not a valid analogy. It’s more a store of value of the energy produced. It’s a monetary incentive to capture the cheapest (now mostly hydro, solar, wind potentially nuclear) wherever you can cheaply or safely find/capture it at the source (since energy transport is inefficient over long distances)
- lucb1e 6y ago
  ... such that it cannot be used by anyone else anymore for that price, since you can't double-spend, ahem, double-use electricity...
  - literallycancer 6y ago
    So? People who live next to the powerplant now have to pay market rate? What a tragedy.
dalbasal 6y ago
You can't turn aluminium back into energy either, but it's a battery for the purpose of this discussion.
- SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
  > You can't turn aluminium back into energy either I hear otherwise, actually https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26609647 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26609647
  - dalbasal 6y ago
    I should have looked that up before saying it on HN. Touche, but you get my point... no? It's not a battery because it's being turned back into energy. You just don't need to make as much aluminium later. Actually, never mind. shees... Nerds. Go on. I deserve at least 6 downvotes for that. We have standards to maintain.
petperseus 6y ago
You could turn that bitcoin directly into energy by making a payment to someone which expended some physical energy to produce a good or service. If you have money you can get the energy (i.e. access to the battery) of someone or some thing. Assuming you don't have access to the battery/money you probably would have to do some work (i.e. contribute to the battery) so that you can access the big battery/monetary system and hence exchange your energy with the energy from someone else (i.e. You make shoes and I make shirts, at some point in time you need a shirt and me a pair of shoes, so we exchange our energy) Point is: battery needs to be always at the most efficient capacity.
epa 6y ago
"Proof that energy has been expended has no intrinsic value at all." See Diamonds.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

tantalor 6y ago

Bitcoin is money, which can be exchanged for goods & services: buy wholesale electricity, or the means to produce it yourself; so the bitcoin -> energy analogy works. I'm not sure what you mean by "directly".

capableweb 6y ago
With that argument anything is a battery if you can find the right buyer. Used panties? Batteries. I feel like the argument of "Bitcoin is a battery" was never well done in the first place, since obviously batteries usually have to actually "store energy" and eventually "output energy" again. Something Bitcoin does not do.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- knocte 6y ago
  You cannot have your hydro power plant generate panties.
africanboy 6y ago
is sex a battery?
SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
What I mean is: at the intersection of deliberately not understanding what in physics terms is actually "a battery", and not understanding what in financial terms is actually "a store of value"; you will find BitCoin fans.

ada1981 6y ago

I tend to like eating burnt toast.

fastball 6y ago

Yes, but I think the "battery" was just too much of a stretch from the original blog post, but not really "the point". The argument in general is that Bitcoin mining is a better-than-nothing use for stranded energy, which does not then imply that it is a "battery". Quibbling over what qualifies as a battery is besides the point, I think.

SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
> Quibbling over what qualifies as a battery is besides the point, I think What is the point of this hand-waving, meaning-erasing, semantic drift then? The term "battery" has a definition, the term "store of value" has a definition too, a different one. It that what they're groping for? There is no need for this amateur-hour waffle.

jonathanpeterwu 6y ago

Bitcoin is not a battery it is not a valid analogy. It’s more a store of value of the energy produced. It’s a monetary incentive to capture the cheapest (now mostly hydro, solar, wind potentially nuclear) wherever you can cheaply or safely find/capture it at the source (since energy transport is inefficient over long distances)

lucb1e 6y ago
... such that it cannot be used by anyone else anymore for that price, since you can't double-spend, ahem, double-use electricity...
- literallycancer 6y ago
  So? People who live next to the powerplant now have to pay market rate? What a tragedy.

dalbasal 6y ago

You can't turn aluminium back into energy either, but it's a battery for the purpose of this discussion.

SideburnsOfDoom 6y ago
> You can't turn aluminium back into energy either I hear otherwise, actually https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26609647 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26609647
- dalbasal 6y ago
  I should have looked that up before saying it on HN. Touche, but you get my point... no? It's not a battery because it's being turned back into energy. You just don't need to make as much aluminium later. Actually, never mind. shees... Nerds. Go on. I deserve at least 6 downvotes for that. We have standards to maintain.

petperseus 6y ago

You could turn that bitcoin directly into energy by making a payment to someone which expended some physical energy to produce a good or service. If you have money you can get the energy (i.e. access to the battery) of someone or some thing. Assuming you don't have access to the battery/money you probably would have to do some work (i.e. contribute to the battery) so that you can access the big battery/monetary system and hence exchange your energy with the energy from someone else (i.e. You make shoes and I make shirts, at some point in time you need a shirt and me a pair of shoes, so we exchange our energy) Point is: battery needs to be always at the most efficient capacity.

epa 6y ago

"Proof that energy has been expended has no intrinsic value at all." See Diamonds.