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Despite all the hype. Very few people use Crypto. It doesn't matter if it's "just" 0.1% what matters is how much do all the banking and credit card systems in t

Despite all the hype. Very few people use Crypto. It doesn't matter if it's "just" 0.1% what matters is how much do all the banking and credit card systems in the world consume by comparison. I would bet it's less than that. So it's not tenable as a currency. It's also not very valuable as a commodity since it fluctuates too much and has no intrinsic value. It has no value to "disconnect from the banks/government" since you need to convert it to "real currency" for usage. There's the claim that green is possible with Crypto but I don't see how. Without turning it into a centralized system. The wastefulness is the system designed to discourage bad actors from taking over. Without it, what will stop the hacks? (not that it helps with all the robberies anyway).

gregwebs 4y ago
> So it's not tenable as a currency. Did you read the article that I linked to? It's helpful also to read this one about Bitcoin: https://www.lynalden.com/gold-and-bitcoin/ https://www.lynalden.com/gold-and-bitcoin/ Bitcoin's usage is not as currency, but as money (read this article about what money is: https://www.lynalden.com/what-is-money/ https://www.lynalden.com/what-is-money/. So Bitcoin is useful as a store of value, rather than a currency. The ability to transact like a currency is being built in layers on top of it (Lightning Network, etc), somewhat similar to how currencies used to be backed by gold.
tasuki 4y ago
> what matters is how much do all the banking and credit card systems in the world consume by comparison. I would bet it's less than that. Thing is, with bitcoin the energy consumption is easily quantifiable and it's a single number. The banking system also uses a lot of energy to heat/cool the employees, builds lots of office buildings, and does many things which could be considered wasteful. It really is a little tricky to compare. The banking system employs a lot of people. Depending on your point of view, this can be a bad thing (they could be doing something more productive instead!) or a good thing (the people are getting jobs, employment is good!).
- FabHK 4y ago
  This is a good point, and the banking system is certainly bloated - just before the GFC more than a third of US GDP went to the financial sector, WTF. However, the traditional banking system also performs way more functions than crypto and DeFi, and I very much doubt that DeFi can provide them. Lastly, disrupting banking with good old Fintech would be great, as it is vastly more efficient than blockchain.

gregwebs 4y ago

> So it's not tenable as a currency. Did you read the article that I linked to? It's helpful also to read this one about Bitcoin: https://www.lynalden.com/gold-and-bitcoin/ https://www.lynalden.com/gold-and-bitcoin/ Bitcoin's usage is not as currency, but as money (read this article about what money is: https://www.lynalden.com/what-is-money/ https://www.lynalden.com/what-is-money/. So Bitcoin is useful as a store of value, rather than a currency. The ability to transact like a currency is being built in layers on top of it (Lightning Network, etc), somewhat similar to how currencies used to be backed by gold.

tasuki 4y ago

> what matters is how much do all the banking and credit card systems in the world consume by comparison. I would bet it's less than that. Thing is, with bitcoin the energy consumption is easily quantifiable and it's a single number. The banking system also uses a lot of energy to heat/cool the employees, builds lots of office buildings, and does many things which could be considered wasteful. It really is a little tricky to compare. The banking system employs a lot of people. Depending on your point of view, this can be a bad thing (they could be doing something more productive instead!) or a good thing (the people are getting jobs, employment is good!).

FabHK 4y ago
This is a good point, and the banking system is certainly bloated - just before the GFC more than a third of US GDP went to the financial sector, WTF. However, the traditional banking system also performs way more functions than crypto and DeFi, and I very much doubt that DeFi can provide them. Lastly, disrupting banking with good old Fintech would be great, as it is vastly more efficient than blockchain.