4 ms·

> The history of private money is one of repeated disasters that destroy public trust We are talking about crypto currencies, right? This guy is living in the

> The history of private money is one of repeated disasters that destroy public trust We are talking about crypto currencies, right? This guy is living in the world where the private bank in charge of how many US Dollars get created are holding the assets driven up by their decisions? This feels like a satire piece. How exactly is Bitcoin or a network modeled after it subject to private control? That's never explained, because its a complete farce. Really anyone piling on to this should be embarrassed, as someone whose confidence in their knowledge of crypto currencies grows with every thread I read on HN, and believes in the vision, I could write a much better hit piece than this - the difference of course being that as an optimist who sees the problems, I invest in the solutions. Its no wonder someone with such a warped view of the space sees no value - he's trying to find his car keys through beer bottles. I wouldn't be surprised to learn Mr. Diel's has some short sell positions against various cryptos. I wonder if HN understands the significance of that bias...

otterley 5y ago
Congress, subject to the U.S. Constitution and being our duly-elected representatives, could (in theory) pass a law replacing the Dollar tomorrow as the U.S.’s unit of currency. That’s what makes our currency a Public Thing. Cryptocurrencies are strictly private things because no government—even a legitimate one—or public mechanism can manipulate them.
- mattwilsonn888 5y ago
  That's a half definition. The other half of "private" is 'centrally controlled by a single organization.' Are the open seas private because the government doesn't control them? This is all just silly word games anyways. You (should) well know the basics of how at least Bitcoin works and how it cannot be reasonably controlled by anyone (barring state violence against users) if you are to speak on it at all.
  - otterley 5y ago
    Private does not mean control by a single entity. I don’t know where you got that from. Ownership of private property is massively distributed across the population. (Consider everyone’s clothing, mobile phones, homes, cars, food.)
    - mattwilsonn888 5y ago
      Yes many people privately own things. They alone control them, or as a private group. The point is that calling Bitcoin private in the sense of property or in the sense of business is simply ignorant. Any participant can get involved in Bitcoin's protocol with less barrier to entry than any stock exchange, and (I can't believe I have to type this) Bitcoin is not controlled by any single person or private group of people. So please explain how Bitcoin is private or close to it, or cede the point.
      - otterley 5y ago
        The question is whether or not the public, through its duly-elected representatives according to a constitution, has created the thing and has put the duly-elected executor in majority control over it. If that is the case, I would call that a public thing. Other things, I would call private. Just because a group of people got together and made a thing -- even if that thing is usable by the public -- doesn't make that thing a public thing, if the public has no ability to make a binding decision through its democratic processes to change it.
        mattwilsonn888 5y ago
        Great well we can cut definitions all day but in effect the comparison I just challenged you on which you ignored and is the crux of a fourth of the blog post isn't going to be more illuminated by pedantism. It's clear Bitcoin behaves completely unlike a private good in total.

otterley 5y ago

Congress, subject to the U.S. Constitution and being our duly-elected representatives, could (in theory) pass a law replacing the Dollar tomorrow as the U.S.’s unit of currency. That’s what makes our currency a Public Thing. Cryptocurrencies are strictly private things because no government—even a legitimate one—or public mechanism can manipulate them.

mattwilsonn888 5y ago
That's a half definition. The other half of "private" is 'centrally controlled by a single organization.' Are the open seas private because the government doesn't control them? This is all just silly word games anyways. You (should) well know the basics of how at least Bitcoin works and how it cannot be reasonably controlled by anyone (barring state violence against users) if you are to speak on it at all.
- otterley 5y ago
  Private does not mean control by a single entity. I don’t know where you got that from. Ownership of private property is massively distributed across the population. (Consider everyone’s clothing, mobile phones, homes, cars, food.)
  - mattwilsonn888 5y ago
    Yes many people privately own things. They alone control them, or as a private group. The point is that calling Bitcoin private in the sense of property or in the sense of business is simply ignorant. Any participant can get involved in Bitcoin's protocol with less barrier to entry than any stock exchange, and (I can't believe I have to type this) Bitcoin is not controlled by any single person or private group of people. So please explain how Bitcoin is private or close to it, or cede the point.
    - otterley 5y ago
      The question is whether or not the public, through its duly-elected representatives according to a constitution, has created the thing and has put the duly-elected executor in majority control over it. If that is the case, I would call that a public thing. Other things, I would call private. Just because a group of people got together and made a thing -- even if that thing is usable by the public -- doesn't make that thing a public thing, if the public has no ability to make a binding decision through its democratic processes to change it.
      - mattwilsonn888 5y ago
        Great well we can cut definitions all day but in effect the comparison I just challenged you on which you ignored and is the crux of a fourth of the blog post isn't going to be more illuminated by pedantism. It's clear Bitcoin behaves completely unlike a private good in total.