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> Bitcoin has become something people want to happen. It is being propped up by belief. All "money" is propped up by belief (in its value for exchange). The '

> Bitcoin has become something people want to happen. It is being propped up by belief. All "money" is propped up by belief (in its value for exchange). The 'disadvantage' of BTC (and gold) is that it is inflexible and it takes resources to create. Some people—'hard money' folks—think of this as a positive trait.

rufusroflpunch 5y ago
I am one of those hard money people. The work secures the network. In order to alter the ledger, you need to reverse not just one block, but every block after it, means you would have to redo the work for every single block. All the while, the rest of the network keep working along the real chain, mining new blocks. The work makes it impossible to alter the chain.
AnonC 5y ago
Fiat currencies also take a lot of resources to create — human and computing resources (to define and create the money out of some calculations, be it a central bank for policy reasons or a private bank for fractional reserve banking reasons), physical elements and molecules for currency bills, infrastructure to handle electronic payments, settlements, reversals, etc. It’s all so widely distributed that people don’t think of the costs. I have seen contrary arguments on the enormous amount of energy used to create Bitcoin. Is there a good comparison showing the real (material) costs of fiat currency vs. Bitcoin?
ekianjo 5y ago
> All "money" is propped up by belief (in its value for exchange). Nope, it's propped up by a government who is forcing it on you, whether you believe in its value or not. It's not like you have a choice not to use the <national currency where you live> in most countries. You can't ask your employer to pay you in anything else but the government-approved currency either.
- ashwagary 5y ago
  Many employers pay people in Bitcoin on request, tech companies like Square and LN Strike are making this easier to do. I can think of at least a dozen NBA and NFL athletes using these services to get paid in Bitcoin.
  - ekianjo 5y ago
    > I can think of at least a dozen NBA and NFL athletes using these services to get paid in Bitcoin. A dozen! That is surely a threat to the US economy at large. You can rest assured that if this were to become commonplace for let's say, something in the range of a million workers, the government would outlaw it in no time.
    - ashwagary 5y ago
      >You can't ask your employer to pay you in anything else but the government-approved currency either. >A dozen! Don't move the goalposts when easily proven wrong. It's bad form... They can't outlaw it without tremendous backlash at this point. Adoption is happening at the local/state level and starting to accelerate at the institutional level. Banks and public companies control legislators and many now have long Bitcoin positions...
  - sidibe 5y ago
    The dollar and other government-backed currencies will always be in demand because even if you are paid in bitcoin your taxes are paid in dollars.
    - ashwagary 5y ago
      Sure they will unless Bitcoin is accepted as legal tender but even then, remember Gresham's law. People would rather hold on to 'good money' (Bitcoin) and get rid of 'bad money' (USD) if given a choice. So the majority will happily pay taxes in USD.

rufusroflpunch 5y ago

I am one of those hard money people. The work secures the network. In order to alter the ledger, you need to reverse not just one block, but every block after it, means you would have to redo the work for every single block. All the while, the rest of the network keep working along the real chain, mining new blocks. The work makes it impossible to alter the chain.

AnonC 5y ago

Fiat currencies also take a lot of resources to create — human and computing resources (to define and create the money out of some calculations, be it a central bank for policy reasons or a private bank for fractional reserve banking reasons), physical elements and molecules for currency bills, infrastructure to handle electronic payments, settlements, reversals, etc. It’s all so widely distributed that people don’t think of the costs. I have seen contrary arguments on the enormous amount of energy used to create Bitcoin. Is there a good comparison showing the real (material) costs of fiat currency vs. Bitcoin?

ekianjo 5y ago

> All "money" is propped up by belief (in its value for exchange). Nope, it's propped up by a government who is forcing it on you, whether you believe in its value or not. It's not like you have a choice not to use the <national currency where you live> in most countries. You can't ask your employer to pay you in anything else but the government-approved currency either.

ashwagary 5y ago
Many employers pay people in Bitcoin on request, tech companies like Square and LN Strike are making this easier to do. I can think of at least a dozen NBA and NFL athletes using these services to get paid in Bitcoin.
- ekianjo 5y ago
  > I can think of at least a dozen NBA and NFL athletes using these services to get paid in Bitcoin. A dozen! That is surely a threat to the US economy at large. You can rest assured that if this were to become commonplace for let's say, something in the range of a million workers, the government would outlaw it in no time.
  - ashwagary 5y ago
    >You can't ask your employer to pay you in anything else but the government-approved currency either. >A dozen! Don't move the goalposts when easily proven wrong. It's bad form... They can't outlaw it without tremendous backlash at this point. Adoption is happening at the local/state level and starting to accelerate at the institutional level. Banks and public companies control legislators and many now have long Bitcoin positions...
- sidibe 5y ago
  The dollar and other government-backed currencies will always be in demand because even if you are paid in bitcoin your taxes are paid in dollars.
  - ashwagary 5y ago
    Sure they will unless Bitcoin is accepted as legal tender but even then, remember Gresham's law. People would rather hold on to 'good money' (Bitcoin) and get rid of 'bad money' (USD) if given a choice. So the majority will happily pay taxes in USD.