6 ms·
How does the USD currency compare? I'd wager that the top-10 banks and the various central reserve banks own or control the vast majority of USD.
by beambot 5y ago
How does the USD currency compare? I'd wager that the top-10 banks and the various central reserve banks own or control the vast majority of USD.
- gitrog 5y agoTraditional currencies aren't advertised as being decentralised.
- erispoe 5y agoFiat currency is a state monopoly. That's how it's designed to work.
- TeMPOraL 5y agoIf Bitcoin is comparable to USD, then there's nothing justifying its use over USD, with its associated ludicrous waste of energy and environmental impact.
- neuroma 5y agoWhile I'm sure you're correct, does that make the comparison any less useful and informative?
- TeMPOraL 5y agoIt doesn't. The comparison is useful and informative - in pointing out ways in which Bitcoin doesn't, and can't ever, deliver on its promise. At best, if it were ever integrated into serious economy, it would just present an extra layer of indirection and complexity in a system working the same way otherwise.
- fsflover 5y agoThe government can print USD for themselves, effectively stealing money from everyone through inflation. With bitcoin, even "small group controlling 90%" can't do that.
- worrycue 5y agoThey can but generally they don’t allow inflation to exceed 3% - ideally keeping it with 1-3% - as the destruction of the currency is not worth it long term.
- fsflover 5y agoSo with USD, you trust that people care about long term consequences over short-term profit? With bitcoin, you trust math.
- FabHK 5y ago> With bitcoin, you trust math. No, you trust the 50 miners that control the majority of the hash power not to mess with the code that embodies your math (or doesn't, as the case may be).
- fsflover 5y agoNo, you trust the majority of people running the code, not just miners: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29012699 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29012699.
- FabHK 5y agoWhat if the majority of people running nodes disagrees with the majority of hash power holders? Running a node is cheap.
- bart_spoon 5y agoWith Bitcoin, the math says that deflationary currencies are destined for failure.
- FabHK 5y agoSure they can. There's a line in the code halving the codebase mining reward every 210,000 blocks. Just comment that line out (or replace halving with doubling). Done.
- fhe 5y agobanks don't own the deposits. in fact, deposits are liabilities on their balance sheets.
- worrycue 5y agoThe Central bank controls the currency, having a monopoly on creation of said currency, and that’s by design.