5 ms·

> Should we ban shipping? Shipping is pretty useful, though. What are the other major uses for Bitcoin?

by mcphage 5y ago

Mc_Big_G 5y ago
Ask someone in a country whose currency has been debased.
- thehappypm 5y ago
  Those people end up hoarding stable currencies like USD today, how is BTC any better?
Dah00n 5y ago
In the long run? Maybe destroying the petro dollar. One can dream.
- grumple 5y ago
  This doesn't make sense to me. Are you opposed to people paying for oil, or the influence of oil? Because that still exists whether they are paying with dollars or crypto, and will exist no matter what currency is used.
  - Dah00n 5y ago
    No, I'm opposed to using a currency that is force-fed down the throat of oil producing countries at the the risk of invasion if refused.
px43 5y ago
Sending money over the internet. If you don't understand why that's an critical utility for billions of people on this planet, then you're not worth arguing with.
- grumple 5y ago
  Sending money over the internet is faster and safer using methods that existed before bitcoin (sending via banks / paypal / venmo / cashapp / etc). Crypto does not enable this.
  - px43 5y ago
    None of those services actually let you send money over the internet. All of them are custodial. You give them your money, they hold onto it, and when they feel like it, they might let you interact with other users within their closed ecosystems.
    - grumple 5y ago
      That is a distinction without a difference and a nonsensical one at that. I have money in my bank account and it goes to someone else’s bank account. The same is true for Bitcoin anyway - you have to use exchanges to get money in/out and you are completely dependent on strangers to process your transactions, and they cost far more. Sure you can have your own wallet but it’s entirely useless until you interact with an exchange and the network.
      - px43 5y ago
        You've got that backwards, exchanges are only used by people with USD or trying to get USD. The Bitcoin ecosystem did just fine before exchanges existed. I was there. We either mined our own coins, or earned them by doing work for people with coins. It was great. Also recognize the privilege that you were born with that allows you to open a bank account. About a third of the people in this world don't have that luxury. I've used Bitcoin to pay under-served artists and programmers in corners of the world that I had never heard of, and with many of them I never knew where they were located geographically, because it just doesn't matter anymore.
- thehappypm 5y ago
  Crypto is one tool for sending money over the internet, but it's hardly the only one, and it's far from the best. Most transaction utilities don't have potential for your transfer to lose 30% overnight.
blhack 5y ago
I don't really know how to ask this question without it sounding insulting, but: do you agree that currency itself is useful? And then the broader question is: do you agree that financial instruments are useful? It seems odd to me that there are so many people on HN who don't seem to understand the importance of finance. You are literally posting on the website of a venture capital firm.
- mcphage 5y ago
  > do you agree that currency itself is useful? Currency itself is useful, but has existed a lot longer than Bitcoin. If we're trying to evaluate the utility of some new thing, merely the fact that it's another kind of currency really doesn't get you much. Ocean Shipping on the other hand gets you a lot of things that other kind of shipping don't get you.

> Should we ban shipping? Shipping is pretty useful, though. What are the other major uses for Bitcoin?

Mc_Big_G 5y ago

Ask someone in a country whose currency has been debased.

thehappypm 5y ago
Those people end up hoarding stable currencies like USD today, how is BTC any better?

Dah00n 5y ago

In the long run? Maybe destroying the petro dollar. One can dream.

grumple 5y ago
This doesn't make sense to me. Are you opposed to people paying for oil, or the influence of oil? Because that still exists whether they are paying with dollars or crypto, and will exist no matter what currency is used.
- Dah00n 5y ago
  No, I'm opposed to using a currency that is force-fed down the throat of oil producing countries at the the risk of invasion if refused.

px43 5y ago

Sending money over the internet. If you don't understand why that's an critical utility for billions of people on this planet, then you're not worth arguing with.

grumple 5y ago
Sending money over the internet is faster and safer using methods that existed before bitcoin (sending via banks / paypal / venmo / cashapp / etc). Crypto does not enable this.
- px43 5y ago
  None of those services actually let you send money over the internet. All of them are custodial. You give them your money, they hold onto it, and when they feel like it, they might let you interact with other users within their closed ecosystems.
  - grumple 5y ago
    That is a distinction without a difference and a nonsensical one at that. I have money in my bank account and it goes to someone else’s bank account. The same is true for Bitcoin anyway - you have to use exchanges to get money in/out and you are completely dependent on strangers to process your transactions, and they cost far more. Sure you can have your own wallet but it’s entirely useless until you interact with an exchange and the network.
    - px43 5y ago
      You've got that backwards, exchanges are only used by people with USD or trying to get USD. The Bitcoin ecosystem did just fine before exchanges existed. I was there. We either mined our own coins, or earned them by doing work for people with coins. It was great. Also recognize the privilege that you were born with that allows you to open a bank account. About a third of the people in this world don't have that luxury. I've used Bitcoin to pay under-served artists and programmers in corners of the world that I had never heard of, and with many of them I never knew where they were located geographically, because it just doesn't matter anymore.
thehappypm 5y ago
Crypto is one tool for sending money over the internet, but it's hardly the only one, and it's far from the best. Most transaction utilities don't have potential for your transfer to lose 30% overnight.

blhack 5y ago

I don't really know how to ask this question without it sounding insulting, but: do you agree that currency itself is useful? And then the broader question is: do you agree that financial instruments are useful? It seems odd to me that there are so many people on HN who don't seem to understand the importance of finance. You are literally posting on the website of a venture capital firm.

mcphage 5y ago
> do you agree that currency itself is useful? Currency itself is useful, but has existed a lot longer than Bitcoin. If we're trying to evaluate the utility of some new thing, merely the fact that it's another kind of currency really doesn't get you much. Ocean Shipping on the other hand gets you a lot of things that other kind of shipping don't get you.