3 ms·

Bitcoin Is Civilization

retrac 5y ago
The points raised, chopped up without mercy, and rephrased: 1. Bitcoin circumvents currency controls. 2. The wild 30% swings of the gold price historically was still, in principle, preferable to generally stable 1 - 2% swings of the money supply over the last half-century. 3. The richest will be able to monopolize the market without interference or regulation. 4. Crypto enables the trade of materials regardless of whether the government approves. 5. Crypto makes it harder for the government to impose taxation or seize property. 6. Cryptocurrencies are based on cryptography. Cryptography is good. Therefore cryptocurrencies are good. 7. It's gonna be a big market so buy in now. 8. Yet more anarcho-capitalist inanity. Sure, you can hide your cryptocurrency assets. But if the tax man or judge orders you to pay, you better pay. They may not be able to imprison your cash but they will be able to imprison your body. 9. Crypto brings the world together. 10. Again, we can apparently just replace laws with code now. I very much doubt this will influence anyone who wasn't already converted. It may actually serve best as a warning against Bitcoin. A precise description of the threat. It's very telling that at no point in this screed about democracy and equality is a key fact mentioned. One's vote in a decentralized organization is, almost invariably, allocated in proportion to ones share of ownership. Just like shares in a corporation. This is a proposal to shift regulation of the financial system from a one-person-one-vote to a one-dollar-one-vote system.
- md2020 5y ago
  Since when is regulation of the financial system one-person-one-vote?
  - retrac 5y ago
    It's approximately what we aspire to in most democracies, no? Policy and law representing the will of the public. The fact that it's imperfectly achieved in reality doesn't seem a compelling reason to abandon that as a value altogether.
kosasbest 5y ago
Bitcoin is a security, not a commodity.
- ls15 5y ago
  https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/howey-test.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/howey-test.asp > Why Is Bitcoin Not a Security? > In June 2018, the former Chair of the SEC, Jay Clayton, clarified that bitcoin is not a security: "Cryptocurrencies: These are replacements for sovereign currencies, replace the dollar, the euro, the yen with bitcoin. That type of currency is not a security," said Clayton. > Bitcoin, which has never sought public funds to develop its technology, does not pass the Howey Test used by the SEC to classify securities. However, by Clayton's definition, tokens used in an ICO are securities.
  - davidgerard 5y ago
    Depends on the country. Bitcoin on an exchange is a security in Canada, because you don't have the thing, they have the thing and a liability to you for it. "Not your keys" as the regulations.
Imnimo 5y ago
>it cracked the Byzantine Generals Problem, a previously unsolved problem in computer science whose brilliant resolution enabled the entire field of blockchain research. This is delusional.
- Jackpillar 5y ago
  'Delusional' defines the entirety of Bari Weisses journalist career.
jokoon 5y ago
You cannot ban Bitcoin, but I wish converting real money and btc was illegal. Or at least they would be mandated to guarantee a non changing rate for at least one month. Btc made me realize normal money is not so bad.
lucidlife 5y ago
The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Why do they keep feeling the need to defend and evangelize bitcoin? If it's useful, people who find it useful will use it and their lives will improve... people who don't find it useful won't use it and their lives will be unaffected. If the deviation between these two groups gets too wide, you will recruit users because the facts on the ground will make the benefits obvious. Nobody went around shilling for Amazon in the late 90s. Nobody went around shilling for Google in the early 2000's. Go build something useful and shut up until it's done.

The points raised, chopped up without mercy, and rephrased: 1. Bitcoin circumvents currency controls. 2. The wild 30% swings of the gold price historically was still, in principle, preferable to generally stable 1 - 2% swings of the money supply over the last half-century. 3. The richest will be able to monopolize the market without interference or regulation. 4. Crypto enables the trade of materials regardless of whether the government approves. 5. Crypto makes it harder for the government to impose taxation or seize property. 6. Cryptocurrencies are based on cryptography. Cryptography is good. Therefore cryptocurrencies are good. 7. It's gonna be a big market so buy in now. 8. Yet more anarcho-capitalist inanity. Sure, you can hide your cryptocurrency assets. But if the tax man or judge orders you to pay, you better pay. They may not be able to imprison your cash but they will be able to imprison your body. 9. Crypto brings the world together. 10. Again, we can apparently just replace laws with code now. I very much doubt this will influence anyone who wasn't already converted. It may actually serve best as a warning against Bitcoin. A precise description of the threat. It's very telling that at no point in this screed about democracy and equality is a key fact mentioned. One's vote in a decentralized organization is, almost invariably, allocated in proportion to ones share of ownership. Just like shares in a corporation. This is a proposal to shift regulation of the financial system from a one-person-one-vote to a one-dollar-one-vote system.

md2020 5y ago
Since when is regulation of the financial system one-person-one-vote?
- retrac 5y ago
  It's approximately what we aspire to in most democracies, no? Policy and law representing the will of the public. The fact that it's imperfectly achieved in reality doesn't seem a compelling reason to abandon that as a value altogether.

kosasbest 5y ago

Bitcoin is a security, not a commodity.

ls15 5y ago
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/howey-test.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/howey-test.asp > Why Is Bitcoin Not a Security? > In June 2018, the former Chair of the SEC, Jay Clayton, clarified that bitcoin is not a security: "Cryptocurrencies: These are replacements for sovereign currencies, replace the dollar, the euro, the yen with bitcoin. That type of currency is not a security," said Clayton. > Bitcoin, which has never sought public funds to develop its technology, does not pass the Howey Test used by the SEC to classify securities. However, by Clayton's definition, tokens used in an ICO are securities.
- davidgerard 5y ago
  Depends on the country. Bitcoin on an exchange is a security in Canada, because you don't have the thing, they have the thing and a liability to you for it. "Not your keys" as the regulations.

Imnimo 5y ago

>it cracked the Byzantine Generals Problem, a previously unsolved problem in computer science whose brilliant resolution enabled the entire field of blockchain research. This is delusional.

Jackpillar 5y ago
'Delusional' defines the entirety of Bari Weisses journalist career.

jokoon 5y ago

You cannot ban Bitcoin, but I wish converting real money and btc was illegal. Or at least they would be mandated to guarantee a non changing rate for at least one month. Btc made me realize normal money is not so bad.

lucidlife 5y ago

The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Why do they keep feeling the need to defend and evangelize bitcoin? If it's useful, people who find it useful will use it and their lives will improve... people who don't find it useful won't use it and their lives will be unaffected. If the deviation between these two groups gets too wide, you will recruit users because the facts on the ground will make the benefits obvious. Nobody went around shilling for Amazon in the late 90s. Nobody went around shilling for Google in the early 2000's. Go build something useful and shut up until it's done.