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I’ve brought this up before and I was downvoted for it[0], but I don’t think I made my point clear enough last time. People seemed to think I was questioning t

I’ve brought this up before and I was downvoted for it[0], but I don’t think I made my point clear enough last time. People seemed to think I was questioning the soundness of the algorithm, but that’s not what concerns me. I was talking about the concept of bitcoin itself. What I’m concerned with is what if the true point of this thing we have been led to call “bitcoin” is to destabilize countries. What if it’s a new type of nation-state attack, or virus, that we haven’t seen before. Something we don’t yet have a word for. Something that takes advantage of a country’s citizens’ greed while doing things like disrupting power grids and causing countries to be worse off than they would be without bitcoin. It’s like finding food someone left on your doorstep and eating it without being worried someone is trying to poison you. Most people that are supporters of bitcoin are driven by pure greed. What if someone has found a way to weaponize greed? [0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28446571 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28446571

bufbupa 5y ago
Sorry that I don't know how to present this more constructively, but you sound pretty tin-foil-hat-y. You argument seems to be just "I don't understand this thing, so doesn't that mean someone could have introduced it out of malice". As the replies from your previous comment stated, try reading about the block chain protocol. It's definitely easier to understand than the whole of our fiat currency system. In my opinion, crypto is largely a ponzi scheme, so rest assured I'm not saying this out of love for bitcoin. But I also don't believe there's some master-mind illuminati behind the scenes orchestrating this intentionally. This is a 100% open and transparent protocol that people are supporting out of fear of existing societal power structure. If you have a good reason to suspect someone of manipulating crypto for some greater purpose, present your evidence and let us evaluate it. But vague paranoia about some puppet master's scheme sounds a bit like crying wolf to me. We as a society just haven't gotten good at pricing in externalities (eg: carbon emissions) to consumer goods yet. If crypto miners were providing enough societal value to afford the excessive consumption of energy, then I think everyone would be praising crypto as the next industrial revolution -- improving quality of life for everyone! But instead, I think most people recognize it as siphoning value from many for the benefit of a fortunate few.
gaspard234 5y ago
I have friends that joke that Crypto was introduced by alien lifeforms or time travelers as a way to burn our environment down before reaching Stage 2 of the Kardashev scale[0]. Human greed is too powerful for us to ignore the negative impacts and it is destined to destroy humanity. I work in a related space so I don't agree but it is interesting to think about. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale
honkycat 5y ago
Government induced inflation is a useful tool for controlling food prices and other economic concerns. Allowing people to abandon their currency for another one only used by wealthy people could starve people who do not make enough money to catch up. Look at the housing market. It has become a store of wealth. And now people can't afford housing and we have a massive unhoused epidemic.

bufbupa 5y ago

Sorry that I don't know how to present this more constructively, but you sound pretty tin-foil-hat-y. You argument seems to be just "I don't understand this thing, so doesn't that mean someone could have introduced it out of malice". As the replies from your previous comment stated, try reading about the block chain protocol. It's definitely easier to understand than the whole of our fiat currency system. In my opinion, crypto is largely a ponzi scheme, so rest assured I'm not saying this out of love for bitcoin. But I also don't believe there's some master-mind illuminati behind the scenes orchestrating this intentionally. This is a 100% open and transparent protocol that people are supporting out of fear of existing societal power structure. If you have a good reason to suspect someone of manipulating crypto for some greater purpose, present your evidence and let us evaluate it. But vague paranoia about some puppet master's scheme sounds a bit like crying wolf to me. We as a society just haven't gotten good at pricing in externalities (eg: carbon emissions) to consumer goods yet. If crypto miners were providing enough societal value to afford the excessive consumption of energy, then I think everyone would be praising crypto as the next industrial revolution -- improving quality of life for everyone! But instead, I think most people recognize it as siphoning value from many for the benefit of a fortunate few.

gaspard234 5y ago

I have friends that joke that Crypto was introduced by alien lifeforms or time travelers as a way to burn our environment down before reaching Stage 2 of the Kardashev scale[0]. Human greed is too powerful for us to ignore the negative impacts and it is destined to destroy humanity. I work in a related space so I don't agree but it is interesting to think about. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kardashev_scale

honkycat 5y ago

Government induced inflation is a useful tool for controlling food prices and other economic concerns. Allowing people to abandon their currency for another one only used by wealthy people could starve people who do not make enough money to catch up. Look at the housing market. It has become a store of wealth. And now people can't afford housing and we have a massive unhoused epidemic.