5 ms·

It’s funny watching the United States weaken its own currency. People in the far future will read the history books with great amusement. Like, in what way doe

It’s funny watching the United States weaken its own currency. People in the far future will read the history books with great amusement. Like, in what way does this benefit Colorado or the United States?

Dwolb 5y ago
I don’t understand how this statement can be stated confidently. “People in the far future will read the history books with great amusement.” Who knows what’s going to happen in the far future?
- deepvibrations 5y ago
  Exactly, a very arrogant and short sighted comment. Though one I would expect in a thread about crypto currency. I believe many have a strong hatred for Bitcoin etc, as they missed out on an opportunity to make a LOT of money, or simply know others that made a lot and feel some jealousy. It's just a technology and for all we know, some larger distrust may arise in governments that leads to people using crypto more and although a very small chance, bitcoin may become the most commonly used currency. My point being, we just don't know and cannot predict these things.
  - endisneigh 5y ago
    > I believe many have a strong hatred for Bitcoin etc, as they missed out on an opportunity to make a LOT of money, or simply know others that made a lot and feel some jealousy Yes the only reason someone can make this comment is because they’re jealous of all the money they missed out on. By the way, the word you’re looking for is envy, not jealousy smh.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - Retric 5y ago
    I started mining Bitcoin before video card mining was a thing, and I thought it was a bad idea back then. It’s isn’t about making money, it’s a question of what Bitcoin is and how it works.
    - deepvibrations 5y ago
      Congrats, then you should understand that even if Bitcoin doesn't make it, some other form cryptocurrency probably will.
      - Retric 5y ago
        Not really, cryptocurrency seems to be dying off for exactly the reasons I assumed they would. The original point was for small and ultra low overhead transactions, not as a way to make money. I am not saying the price is hitting 0 in 6 months or even 6 years, but clearly the original goal failed, interest is going away, and no use case has replaced it.
        Dwolb 5y ago
        What data are you seeing that is showing crypto’s dying off?
        Retric 5y ago
        Number of new startups, news, coins, and conversations people have about it.
        CyberDildonics 5y ago
        Even by the standards of someone on a forum commenting on what they want to be reality instead of actual reality this is a ridiculous statement.
        Retric 5y ago
- endisneigh 5y ago
  It’s not about what’s going to happen in the future - it’s about what’s happening now.
buzzdenver 5y ago
Some politicians secured campaign contributions from the crypto lobby, that's all. I didn't see details on how much extra it'll cost compared to paying with a check/ACH.
whacim 5y ago
My theory is that U.S. and other governments recognize that digital currency will eventually be necessary. Rather than expend the resources to develop it themselves, they are giving the crypto community enough space to do the R&D for them. Once the technology evolves to a point that it is both secure and practical, the governments will implement their own digital iterations of their respective currencies.
- MereInterest 5y ago
  Digital currency already exists, but with the much less sexy name of "bank accounts", "checks", "debit cards", and "wire transfers". The only thing that cryptocurrencies bring to the table is trustlessness, but that is what introduces the inefficiencies of cryptocurrencies, and prevents useful features such as reversible transactions in the case of fraud.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - kasey_junk 5y ago
    This was my position until very recently as well but I’ve recently been convinced otherwise. The trust stuff is actually the least interesting part (though perhaps a prerequisite for it). The interesting part is the potential for a “universal” api. Instead of having to integrate with every financial institution to support the myriad payment methods out there you can support the crypto currency. That’s a big deal. It’s not what the crypto libertarians are pitching and I still believe that governmental currency controls will always be a thing but standardizing the actual mechanics of money movement would be huge.
    - CryptoPunk 5y ago
      >>The interesting part is the potential for a “universal” api. This is true both at the application level and the software standards level. An example of the first would be Uniswap. Any one in the world can access this exchange, both for listing tokens, and for trading them, and it is guaranteed to never shut down, as long as the Ethereum network and blockchain exists. This is absolute universality in terms of APIs. In terms of software standards, the EVM is already used by multiple blockchains, which makes them all share the same address format out of the box, and compatible with software like MetaMask that has tens of millions of installations. I could send Ethereum tokens to your Polygon (an EVM based chain) address, and you would be able to use your Polygon Chain private key to access them. All that you would be required to do is go to MetaMask and switch your network from Polygon to Ethereum mainnet, and the tokens would be appear in your wallet interface. >>It’s not what the crypto libertarians are pitching and I still believe that governmental currency controls Government currency controls cannot be a thing any more. Monetary transactions dependent solely on cryptographic authentication, and published to a completely decentralized and immutable platform, totally unmoors money from the types of bottlenecks that state actors could use to control its flows. To control currency requires controlling the flow of information now, and with the universal adoption of the internet, that is not happening.
mumblemumble 5y ago
I would speculate that it's that Colorado wants to build up its tech industry, and a bunch of people in charge believe that things like this will help project an image that attracts investment. The actual impact on US currency valuation will be negligible. Even if it weren't, I believe a large portion of Colorado's economy is based on producing export goods, so a weaker USD is theoretically beneficial to at least some segments of the state's economy.
- codyb 5y ago
  Every time this happens the number of people who actually use the new payment channel seems to be very few.
  - mumblemumble 5y ago
    Probably, but, if my hypothesis about what this is really about (that is, it's a PR stunt that's more about saying they taking BTC payments than actually taking BTC payments) is true, then they could theoretically accomplish their intended outcome without ever actually taking a single BTC payment. Arguably, the fact that we're sitting here chatting about Colorado on hacker news indicates that the alleged plan has already succeeded, months before the system is scheduled to come online.
- anthomtb 5y ago
  How’d you determine that Colorado’s economy is export focused? That does not line up at all with my experience from living here.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - mumblemumble 5y ago
    Sorry, I perhaps didn't indicate clearly enough that it was a wild guess. I know raw material extraction is a major part of the economy in the corner of the state where my family lives, but I have no idea of actual numbers. I was also not trying to suggest that it's "export focused" - that would imply that that's a dominant factor in the economy, which is not what I intended to say. I chose the word "large", not to imply that it's a majority, but to imply there's enough money tied to it to make it politically interesting to the elected officials who are driving these sorts of decisions. See, for example, how coal played into the 2016 US elections, despite the US economy not being anything close to "coal focused".
atlantas 5y ago
You mean by unprecedented money printing? That's how they weakened the currency in real terms. “In Colorado, we’ve been laying the groundwork to be a center of crypto and blockchain innovation for a number of years. We see it as a critical part of Colorado’s overall innovation ecosystem,” shared Polis. This is what the US needs to embrace as a whole, otherwise we won't be competitive with the countries that do as the US dollar (petrodollar) loses its primacy on the global stage.

Dwolb 5y ago

I don’t understand how this statement can be stated confidently. “People in the far future will read the history books with great amusement.” Who knows what’s going to happen in the far future?

deepvibrations 5y ago
Exactly, a very arrogant and short sighted comment. Though one I would expect in a thread about crypto currency. I believe many have a strong hatred for Bitcoin etc, as they missed out on an opportunity to make a LOT of money, or simply know others that made a lot and feel some jealousy. It's just a technology and for all we know, some larger distrust may arise in governments that leads to people using crypto more and although a very small chance, bitcoin may become the most commonly used currency. My point being, we just don't know and cannot predict these things.
- endisneigh 5y ago
  > I believe many have a strong hatred for Bitcoin etc, as they missed out on an opportunity to make a LOT of money, or simply know others that made a lot and feel some jealousy Yes the only reason someone can make this comment is because they’re jealous of all the money they missed out on. By the way, the word you’re looking for is envy, not jealousy smh.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- Retric 5y ago
  I started mining Bitcoin before video card mining was a thing, and I thought it was a bad idea back then. It’s isn’t about making money, it’s a question of what Bitcoin is and how it works.
  - deepvibrations 5y ago
    Congrats, then you should understand that even if Bitcoin doesn't make it, some other form cryptocurrency probably will.
    - Retric 5y ago
      Not really, cryptocurrency seems to be dying off for exactly the reasons I assumed they would. The original point was for small and ultra low overhead transactions, not as a way to make money. I am not saying the price is hitting 0 in 6 months or even 6 years, but clearly the original goal failed, interest is going away, and no use case has replaced it.
      - Dwolb 5y ago
        What data are you seeing that is showing crypto’s dying off?
        Retric 5y ago
        Number of new startups, news, coins, and conversations people have about it.
        CyberDildonics 5y ago
        Even by the standards of someone on a forum commenting on what they want to be reality instead of actual reality this is a ridiculous statement.
        Retric 5y ago
endisneigh 5y ago
It’s not about what’s going to happen in the future - it’s about what’s happening now.

buzzdenver 5y ago

Some politicians secured campaign contributions from the crypto lobby, that's all. I didn't see details on how much extra it'll cost compared to paying with a check/ACH.

whacim 5y ago

My theory is that U.S. and other governments recognize that digital currency will eventually be necessary. Rather than expend the resources to develop it themselves, they are giving the crypto community enough space to do the R&D for them. Once the technology evolves to a point that it is both secure and practical, the governments will implement their own digital iterations of their respective currencies.

MereInterest 5y ago
Digital currency already exists, but with the much less sexy name of "bank accounts", "checks", "debit cards", and "wire transfers". The only thing that cryptocurrencies bring to the table is trustlessness, but that is what introduces the inefficiencies of cryptocurrencies, and prevents useful features such as reversible transactions in the case of fraud.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- kasey_junk 5y ago
  This was my position until very recently as well but I’ve recently been convinced otherwise. The trust stuff is actually the least interesting part (though perhaps a prerequisite for it). The interesting part is the potential for a “universal” api. Instead of having to integrate with every financial institution to support the myriad payment methods out there you can support the crypto currency. That’s a big deal. It’s not what the crypto libertarians are pitching and I still believe that governmental currency controls will always be a thing but standardizing the actual mechanics of money movement would be huge.
  - CryptoPunk 5y ago
    >>The interesting part is the potential for a “universal” api. This is true both at the application level and the software standards level. An example of the first would be Uniswap. Any one in the world can access this exchange, both for listing tokens, and for trading them, and it is guaranteed to never shut down, as long as the Ethereum network and blockchain exists. This is absolute universality in terms of APIs. In terms of software standards, the EVM is already used by multiple blockchains, which makes them all share the same address format out of the box, and compatible with software like MetaMask that has tens of millions of installations. I could send Ethereum tokens to your Polygon (an EVM based chain) address, and you would be able to use your Polygon Chain private key to access them. All that you would be required to do is go to MetaMask and switch your network from Polygon to Ethereum mainnet, and the tokens would be appear in your wallet interface. >>It’s not what the crypto libertarians are pitching and I still believe that governmental currency controls Government currency controls cannot be a thing any more. Monetary transactions dependent solely on cryptographic authentication, and published to a completely decentralized and immutable platform, totally unmoors money from the types of bottlenecks that state actors could use to control its flows. To control currency requires controlling the flow of information now, and with the universal adoption of the internet, that is not happening.

mumblemumble 5y ago

I would speculate that it's that Colorado wants to build up its tech industry, and a bunch of people in charge believe that things like this will help project an image that attracts investment. The actual impact on US currency valuation will be negligible. Even if it weren't, I believe a large portion of Colorado's economy is based on producing export goods, so a weaker USD is theoretically beneficial to at least some segments of the state's economy.

codyb 5y ago
Every time this happens the number of people who actually use the new payment channel seems to be very few.
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  Probably, but, if my hypothesis about what this is really about (that is, it's a PR stunt that's more about saying they taking BTC payments than actually taking BTC payments) is true, then they could theoretically accomplish their intended outcome without ever actually taking a single BTC payment. Arguably, the fact that we're sitting here chatting about Colorado on hacker news indicates that the alleged plan has already succeeded, months before the system is scheduled to come online.
anthomtb 5y ago
How’d you determine that Colorado’s economy is export focused? That does not line up at all with my experience from living here.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- mumblemumble 5y ago
  Sorry, I perhaps didn't indicate clearly enough that it was a wild guess. I know raw material extraction is a major part of the economy in the corner of the state where my family lives, but I have no idea of actual numbers. I was also not trying to suggest that it's "export focused" - that would imply that that's a dominant factor in the economy, which is not what I intended to say. I chose the word "large", not to imply that it's a majority, but to imply there's enough money tied to it to make it politically interesting to the elected officials who are driving these sorts of decisions. See, for example, how coal played into the 2016 US elections, despite the US economy not being anything close to "coal focused".

atlantas 5y ago

You mean by unprecedented money printing? That's how they weakened the currency in real terms. “In Colorado, we’ve been laying the groundwork to be a center of crypto and blockchain innovation for a number of years. We see it as a critical part of Colorado’s overall innovation ecosystem,” shared Polis. This is what the US needs to embrace as a whole, otherwise we won't be competitive with the countries that do as the US dollar (petrodollar) loses its primacy on the global stage.