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Bitcoin is very much protected by math. Transactions require cryptographic signatures. That's math! Obviously not talking about the Nash equilibrium but still
by bloppe 4y ago
Bitcoin is very much protected by math. Transactions require cryptographic signatures. That's math!
Obviously not talking about the Nash equilibrium but still relevant.
The important distinction is who (or what) is being trusted. It's always possible that a compromised bank employee commits fraud against me, or a capricious treasury secretary causes runaway inflation with stupid monetary policy (this was actually one of the main motivations behind bitcoin, as immortalized in the Genesis block "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks"). These vulnerabilities aren't really possible with Bitcoin, because you place your trust in a massive community rather than a few key individuals.
- bb88 4y agoThere's several aspects to trust in Bitcoin. 1. The miners won't just up and leave, or are regulated out of existence. 2. The developers (and/or miners) have your best interest (and not theirs) at heart. 3. Hodlers won't suddenly do a run on BTC bringing down the value dramatically. Diamond Hands often turn into Bag Holders (with out diamonds in the bag, btw). 4. The government won't prosecute you for holding BTC or exchanging it for goods and services, or say, dollars. 5. There's nothing propping up the value of BTC other than the good will of hodlers. There's no FDIC, Federal Reserve, or other large entity that can inject capital to stabilize the price. 6. Your public wallet tied to your real name/bank account won't get tied to a money laundering/human trafficking case accidentally. Why? Because you accepted BTC from a known bad wallet!
- tempera 4y agoDo you think the President of USA has your best interest (and not his) at heart?