5 ms·

Cryptocurrencies have shown that you can transform energy into money without any of that messy middle step of doing something useful.

by larsrc 5y ago

eru 5y ago
They prevent double spending attacks. That service is useful for some people. You can of course disagree. Just like you can disagree that building and fueling yachts for rich people is useful.
- selfportrait 5y ago
  This entire chain of replies is skewed. Yes, real world mining is a serious offender, but that doesn’t exempt crypto mining. Have one look at one photograph of a crypto mining farm for one second and this will be obvious to anyone. On the point of double spend - collusion in bitcoin mining is very possible and decentralization is not as strong as claimed. There are tons of studies about this. https://cowles.yale.edu/3a/parlour-miner-collusion-and-bitcoin-protocol.pdf https://cowles.yale.edu/3a/parlour-miner-collusion-and-bitco...
  - eru 5y ago
    > Yes, real world mining is a serious offender, but that doesn’t exempt crypto mining. Agreed, they have essentially nothing in common apart from the name. > Have one look at one photograph of a crypto mining farm for one second and this will be obvious to anyone. Why? You can get pretty bad pictures of eg factory farming, too; still that doesn't mean people will stop eating factory farmed meat. > On the point of double spend - collusion in bitcoin mining is very possible and decentralization is not as strong as claimed. There are tons of studies about this. The pdf you linked says nothing about double spending.
    - selfportrait 5y ago
      > Agreed, they have essentially nothing in common apart from the name. I don’t know if it’s your English, but you just said you agreed that crypto mining is an offender on the level of other forms of mining. > Why? You can get pretty bad pictures of eg factory farming, too; still that doesn't mean people will stop eating factory farmed meat. Except there are people who stop eating meat, reduce their intake, and there are advances in meat alternatives in the market. This is whataboutism 101. It’s quite frankly ignorant. > The pdf you linked says nothing about double spending. The PDF I linked is about bitcoin mining collusion, one of bitcoin’s flaws. If you knew anything about collusion and the consequences of a potential 51% attack, double spending is one of the central topics. Your entire post sounds like paid misinformation.
      - eru 5y ago
        > Your entire post sounds like paid misinformation. I wish.
        selfportrait 5y ago
        Yes, go on and ignore all the points made - especially your incorrect point about the value of cryptocurrency pollution in providing double spend protections - a feature that can easily be abused by a handful of powerful miners. Sweep it under the rug as you go on justifying the rampant climate impact of cryptocurrencies.
DethNinja 5y ago
How is that different than central bank printing? Print money and hand it to your buddies so that they buy new yachts instead of producing anything of value? At least with crypto we know where the money is going and potentially how it is spent. I can’t believe people still argue against cryptocurrencies in 2022 when it has completely proved itself superior to fiat in every way possible, including overall energy usage.
- mattwilsonn888 5y ago
  Nice red flag: people that claim crypto is bad because it uses energy are people that actually trust Elon Musk's arbitrary opinions. Elon knows less about cryptocurrency than a fair amount of degenerate twenty year old speculators.
  - selfportrait 5y ago
    I think you overstate the overlap of Musk fans and crypto climate impact critics. You would be mistaken to think that Musk fans are in large part anti-crypto. It’s a weird notion for you to even submit.
    - mattwilsonn888 5y ago
      Musk has a lot of influence for casual environmentalists - he has the biggest electric car company after all. His misunderstandings of crypto and what's important had far reaching affects on adoption and plenty an ignorant friend have tried to lecture me reinforced by what they view as such an authority.

Cryptocurrencies have shown that you can transform energy into money without any of that messy middle step of doing something useful.

by larsrc 5y ago

Cryptocurrencies have shown that you can transform energy into money without any of that messy middle step of doing something useful.

eru 5y ago

They prevent double spending attacks. That service is useful for some people. You can of course disagree. Just like you can disagree that building and fueling yachts for rich people is useful.

selfportrait 5y ago
This entire chain of replies is skewed. Yes, real world mining is a serious offender, but that doesn’t exempt crypto mining. Have one look at one photograph of a crypto mining farm for one second and this will be obvious to anyone. On the point of double spend - collusion in bitcoin mining is very possible and decentralization is not as strong as claimed. There are tons of studies about this. https://cowles.yale.edu/3a/parlour-miner-collusion-and-bitcoin-protocol.pdf https://cowles.yale.edu/3a/parlour-miner-collusion-and-bitco...
- eru 5y ago
  > Yes, real world mining is a serious offender, but that doesn’t exempt crypto mining. Agreed, they have essentially nothing in common apart from the name. > Have one look at one photograph of a crypto mining farm for one second and this will be obvious to anyone. Why? You can get pretty bad pictures of eg factory farming, too; still that doesn't mean people will stop eating factory farmed meat. > On the point of double spend - collusion in bitcoin mining is very possible and decentralization is not as strong as claimed. There are tons of studies about this. The pdf you linked says nothing about double spending.
  - selfportrait 5y ago
    > Agreed, they have essentially nothing in common apart from the name. I don’t know if it’s your English, but you just said you agreed that crypto mining is an offender on the level of other forms of mining. > Why? You can get pretty bad pictures of eg factory farming, too; still that doesn't mean people will stop eating factory farmed meat. Except there are people who stop eating meat, reduce their intake, and there are advances in meat alternatives in the market. This is whataboutism 101. It’s quite frankly ignorant. > The pdf you linked says nothing about double spending. The PDF I linked is about bitcoin mining collusion, one of bitcoin’s flaws. If you knew anything about collusion and the consequences of a potential 51% attack, double spending is one of the central topics. Your entire post sounds like paid misinformation.
    - eru 5y ago
      > Your entire post sounds like paid misinformation. I wish.
      - selfportrait 5y ago
        Yes, go on and ignore all the points made - especially your incorrect point about the value of cryptocurrency pollution in providing double spend protections - a feature that can easily be abused by a handful of powerful miners. Sweep it under the rug as you go on justifying the rampant climate impact of cryptocurrencies.

DethNinja 5y ago

How is that different than central bank printing? Print money and hand it to your buddies so that they buy new yachts instead of producing anything of value? At least with crypto we know where the money is going and potentially how it is spent. I can’t believe people still argue against cryptocurrencies in 2022 when it has completely proved itself superior to fiat in every way possible, including overall energy usage.

mattwilsonn888 5y ago
Nice red flag: people that claim crypto is bad because it uses energy are people that actually trust Elon Musk's arbitrary opinions. Elon knows less about cryptocurrency than a fair amount of degenerate twenty year old speculators.
- selfportrait 5y ago
  I think you overstate the overlap of Musk fans and crypto climate impact critics. You would be mistaken to think that Musk fans are in large part anti-crypto. It’s a weird notion for you to even submit.
  - mattwilsonn888 5y ago
    Musk has a lot of influence for casual environmentalists - he has the biggest electric car company after all. His misunderstandings of crypto and what's important had far reaching affects on adoption and plenty an ignorant friend have tried to lecture me reinforced by what they view as such an authority.