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> Bitcoin ~= a Starbucks gift card you hope appreciates in value when Starbucks sells more coffee Are you under the impression that Bitcoin is a company? This

• arcticbull 5y ago
  Bitcoin is a combination of a set of tokens, BTC, and a set of miners. Miners are either sole proprietors or, increasingly, publicly traded companies which operate the network collectively. When a transaction takes place, value is extracted from the BTC everyone holds and is transferred to these entities. The more transactions take place, the more value accrues to miners, not to holders. It's in fact taken from holders. Miners become more valuable, and the value accrues to these mining entities, which frequently means to shareholders in the public markets. Starbucks cards are akin to pre-selling coffee tokens. Each time Starbucks redeems these coffee tokens for coffee, they collect a portion of the transaction just as miners do. And just as miners do, they pass on the majority to their suppliers and employees. Just as in the Bitcoin example, the fact Starbucks is selling tons of coffee, collecting a lot of transaction fees, doesn't mean that the Starbucks cards themselves become more valuable. Starbucks Inc, and Starbucks shares do, and that value accrues to their shareholders. I hope that clarifies my thoughts. Open to being wrong about this framing.
  • wyager 5y ago
    An important thing you may not be aware of is that Bitcoin’s “dilution schedule”, so to speak, is fixed in advance. 88% of “shares” have been issued. This is, in fact, a critical advantage Bitcoin has over a ton of shitcoins - fixed dilution schedule, and no pre-mine/creator subsidy.