2 ms·

It's illegal already to dump toxic waste in your neighbors pond. And just bitcoin does something way WAY worse than this. I realize what I'm asking for. I'm as

It's illegal already to dump toxic waste in your neighbors pond. And just bitcoin does something way WAY worse than this. I realize what I'm asking for. I'm asking for cryptocurrency speculators to actually pay for the externalities they cause. Because that's the core of the libertarianism they pretend to support. But of course they don't have libertarian values. The only ideal they stand for is them getting richer by burning everyone else to the ground.

yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
> It's illegal already to dump toxic waste in your neighbors pond. And just bitcoin does something way WAY worse than this. Why? They pay for electricity like everyone else, excepting cases where they're already breaking laws.
- knorker 6y ago
  And for the actual topic at hand? And other non-electricity externalities?
  - olalonde 6y ago
    There are none, unless you want to stretch the meaning of externalities beyond recognition.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
    The topic at hand should already be illegal, no? You don't need a cryptocurrency-specific law to cover running code on someone's server without permission.
- colinmhayes 6y ago
  Electricity usage has major externalities which are not taxed because people would get pissed off. If every country instituted carbon taxes I'd be much more accepting of crypto/proof of work, but we're nowhere close to that happening.
2pEXgD0fZ5cF 6y ago
Something like a very hefty tax for fiat/crypto exchanges would probably already solve the whole problem if a ban is the end goal. People would still be able to use it freely for the applications crypto enthusiasts claim it is meant for (like using it as a decentralized currency for payment). But in reality the hype (and with that, its value) would probably crash because it would not longer be as attractive for the money gambling it is actually used for. Just a thought, I'm probably overlooking something.

yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago

> It's illegal already to dump toxic waste in your neighbors pond. And just bitcoin does something way WAY worse than this. Why? They pay for electricity like everyone else, excepting cases where they're already breaking laws.

knorker 6y ago
And for the actual topic at hand? And other non-electricity externalities?
- olalonde 6y ago
  There are none, unless you want to stretch the meaning of externalities beyond recognition.
- yjftsjthsd-h 6y ago
  The topic at hand should already be illegal, no? You don't need a cryptocurrency-specific law to cover running code on someone's server without permission.
colinmhayes 6y ago
Electricity usage has major externalities which are not taxed because people would get pissed off. If every country instituted carbon taxes I'd be much more accepting of crypto/proof of work, but we're nowhere close to that happening.

2pEXgD0fZ5cF 6y ago

Something like a very hefty tax for fiat/crypto exchanges would probably already solve the whole problem if a ban is the end goal. People would still be able to use it freely for the applications crypto enthusiasts claim it is meant for (like using it as a decentralized currency for payment). But in reality the hype (and with that, its value) would probably crash because it would not longer be as attractive for the money gambling it is actually used for. Just a thought, I'm probably overlooking something.