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Bitcoin is an extremely inefficient computing platform. There's no silver lining to BTC, it's simply a moderately big, potentially huge mistake in the history o

by mkl95 5y ago

Bitcoin is an extremely inefficient computing platform. There's no silver lining to BTC, it's simply a moderately big, potentially huge mistake in the history of modern technology.

danlugo92 5y ago
Then why did Elon Musk buy 1.5 billion dollars of it?
- mkl95 5y ago
  I could name a few things I admire about Elon Musk, investing in BTC is not one of them.
- renewedrebecca 5y ago
  Don’t confuse being rich with being ethical or wise. (This is a kind of appeal to authority, too)
  - danlugo92 5y ago
    Are all of these institutional investors: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/08/06/valuable-sec-data-on-20-institutional-bitcoin-investors-could-soon-disappear/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/08/06/v... (of which the top 3 already account for more BTC than Elon) also unwise?
    - Tarsul 5y ago
      the argument went from BTC is inefficient (OP) to why did Elon buy (you) to understanding the difference between rich and ethical (last comment) to rich investors being wise or not (you again) To make it short: Just because Elon or rich investors buy doesn't mean they are unwise (for themselves) just that it's bad for the world (ecologically), so basically both can be true. Just the difference between thinking about themselves and thinking about other people as well...
    - nameless912 5y ago
      Considering the 2008 housing crisis....yes?
- slightwinder 5y ago
  To sell if for 2 Billion after the jump in price? Or to drop the price and annoy some people? I mean he openly manipulated the price and exited pretty fast. Now it's even lower than before. Longterm he probably made more harm than good.
thesausageking 5y ago
Inefficient compared with what? Gold requires a ton more energy. As does the existing banking system. Bitcoin uses less electricity than Christmas lights and provides a completely electric, transparent, uncensorable currency.
- mkl95 5y ago
  > Bitcoin uses less electricity than Christmas lights You could power Christmas lights for several Christmas if not a lifetime with the electricity used in a BTC transaction. Let that sink in.
  - thesausageking 5y ago
    Your facts are wrong. The global, yearly energy use of Christmas lights is ~2x Bitcoin's energy use. People way overestimate how much energy Bitcoin uses and way underestimate how much simple things like christmas lights, video games, hockey rinks, etc. use.
    - mkl95 5y ago
      That means that Christmas lights are more popular than BTC. A BTC transaction consumes as much power as the average household in more than 3 weeks. If there were as many BTC users as Christmas lights users, the consequences wouldn't be pretty.
      - Syonyk 5y ago
        How so? Mining rate and therefore energy costs are based on the blockchain mining parameters, not the number of users. If there were a ton more users, you'd likely see more transactions on the Lightning network, with Lightning nodes settling out on the main Bitcoin blockchain, but it wouldn't impact energy use substantially. About the only thing that impacts energy use at this point is the price. One can reasonably estimate that, steady state, the value of the energy used is roughly equal to the total block rewards.
      - 5y ago
wraptile 5y ago
Decentralized projects will always be less efficient than centralized ones why are we suddenly so surprised? The value of decentralized system far outweighs the cost of maintaining it especially when it comes to money. Could bitcoin be more efficient? Absolutely, but to call it big mistake of modern technology is just silly.
- mkl95 5y ago
  Don't get me wrong, I'm not surprised about it. The history of computing is full of inefficient, dodgy systems.
- lottin 5y ago
  The fact that most users choose to use centralised exchanges over on-chain transactions suggests the advantages of decentralisation do not outweigh the costs in the opinion of a great majority.
  - rawtxapp 5y ago
    We started having decent decentralized exchanges fairly recently and there have already been days where they have processed more volume than centralized ones. It takes time to build/deploy/grow these exchanges (since they are essentially a 2 sided marketplace).

by mkl95 5y ago

Bitcoin is an extremely inefficient computing platform. There's no silver lining to BTC, it's simply a moderately big, potentially huge mistake in the history of modern technology.

danlugo92 5y ago

Then why did Elon Musk buy 1.5 billion dollars of it?

mkl95 5y ago
I could name a few things I admire about Elon Musk, investing in BTC is not one of them.
renewedrebecca 5y ago
Don’t confuse being rich with being ethical or wise. (This is a kind of appeal to authority, too)
- danlugo92 5y ago
  Are all of these institutional investors: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/08/06/valuable-sec-data-on-20-institutional-bitcoin-investors-could-soon-disappear/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeldelcastillo/2020/08/06/v... (of which the top 3 already account for more BTC than Elon) also unwise?
  - Tarsul 5y ago
    the argument went from BTC is inefficient (OP) to why did Elon buy (you) to understanding the difference between rich and ethical (last comment) to rich investors being wise or not (you again) To make it short: Just because Elon or rich investors buy doesn't mean they are unwise (for themselves) just that it's bad for the world (ecologically), so basically both can be true. Just the difference between thinking about themselves and thinking about other people as well...
  - nameless912 5y ago
    Considering the 2008 housing crisis....yes?
slightwinder 5y ago
To sell if for 2 Billion after the jump in price? Or to drop the price and annoy some people? I mean he openly manipulated the price and exited pretty fast. Now it's even lower than before. Longterm he probably made more harm than good.

thesausageking 5y ago

Inefficient compared with what? Gold requires a ton more energy. As does the existing banking system. Bitcoin uses less electricity than Christmas lights and provides a completely electric, transparent, uncensorable currency.

mkl95 5y ago
> Bitcoin uses less electricity than Christmas lights You could power Christmas lights for several Christmas if not a lifetime with the electricity used in a BTC transaction. Let that sink in.
- thesausageking 5y ago
  Your facts are wrong. The global, yearly energy use of Christmas lights is ~2x Bitcoin's energy use. People way overestimate how much energy Bitcoin uses and way underestimate how much simple things like christmas lights, video games, hockey rinks, etc. use.
  - mkl95 5y ago
    That means that Christmas lights are more popular than BTC. A BTC transaction consumes as much power as the average household in more than 3 weeks. If there were as many BTC users as Christmas lights users, the consequences wouldn't be pretty.
    - Syonyk 5y ago
      How so? Mining rate and therefore energy costs are based on the blockchain mining parameters, not the number of users. If there were a ton more users, you'd likely see more transactions on the Lightning network, with Lightning nodes settling out on the main Bitcoin blockchain, but it wouldn't impact energy use substantially. About the only thing that impacts energy use at this point is the price. One can reasonably estimate that, steady state, the value of the energy used is roughly equal to the total block rewards.
    - 5y ago

wraptile 5y ago

Decentralized projects will always be less efficient than centralized ones why are we suddenly so surprised? The value of decentralized system far outweighs the cost of maintaining it especially when it comes to money. Could bitcoin be more efficient? Absolutely, but to call it big mistake of modern technology is just silly.

mkl95 5y ago
Don't get me wrong, I'm not surprised about it. The history of computing is full of inefficient, dodgy systems.
lottin 5y ago
The fact that most users choose to use centralised exchanges over on-chain transactions suggests the advantages of decentralisation do not outweigh the costs in the opinion of a great majority.
- rawtxapp 5y ago
  We started having decent decentralized exchanges fairly recently and there have already been days where they have processed more volume than centralized ones. It takes time to build/deploy/grow these exchanges (since they are essentially a 2 sided marketplace).