4 ms·

Bullish for Ethereum I guess, which has cut its electricity usage by 99.9% or something since switching to Proof of Stake.

mattgreenrocks 4y ago
I'm really tempted to buy some ETH at this point, and I'm a crypto skeptic who owns nothing. Smart move?
- bradjohnson 4y ago
  If red hasn't come up in a while on a roulette table, is it a smart move to bet on red?
  - ipaddr 4y ago
    It's about 50-50 (minus 0 and double 00) regardless
    - bradjohnson 4y ago
      I'm saying that any knowledge you think might tip the scales in one direction is inconsequential. You will lose money or gain money depending on the will of those with the most stake. It is never a "smart move" to invest in crypto. It is gambling. Maybe get a lady friend to blow on your mouse before you click buy.
      - Mistletoe 4y ago
        Never a smart move? It's been the best performing asset like clockwork 3 out of every 4 years since inception, in time with the Bitcoin halving cycles. https://twitter.com/TimmerFidelity/status/1653114784257040384 https://twitter.com/TimmerFidelity/status/165311478425704038...
        bradjohnson 4y ago
        There is no basis for the increase in value. Crypto at large is a Ponzi scheme where the increase in amount of suckers buying into it is the sole evidence given for its usefulness. Every stalwart crypto supporter talks out of both sides of their mouth every time they are questioned about the actual utility of crypto. Is it the future of money (AKA useful liquidity) or is it a great investment that can only increase in value (AKA speculative deflationary asset)? It cannot be both and it is certainly not useful as money. Makes you wonder why DOES the line go up?
        ipaddr 4y ago
        In fairness share prices have no basis aside from supply and demand.
  - mattgreenrocks 4y ago
    Fair enough. Thanks!
- tmpz22 4y ago
  Yeah you'll get rich quick do it - I would suggest paying for some Udemy/Patreon courses to do it effectively though. Oh and you can pay for private discords for the inside scoop
- Mistletoe 4y ago
  I'm not a good person to ask since I've been drinking the crypto kool-aid since I was an Ethereum miner long ago and now staker. In a world of rampant money printing and inflation and artificial everything, yes I think Ethereum will be useful for a very long time. https://ultrasound.money/ https://ultrasound.money/
  - bradjohnson 4y ago
    Useful how? Linking a real-time deflation chart doesn't exactly scream "useful".
    - Mistletoe 4y ago
      Freedom from monetary debasement. An attempt for the first time in human history to have a global currency not follow the "money printing, debasement, start a war to try and fix it/civilization collapse" cycle. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debasement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debasement
      - bradjohnson 4y ago
        There's no such thing as monetary debasement for bank notes as there is no intrinsic value for the physical dollar. If you're saying that inflation in general is bad for the economy, I would encourage you to read this: https://www.britannica.com/money/inflation-vs-deflation https://www.britannica.com/money/inflation-vs-deflation
ETH_start 4y ago
Yes, and while I'm pro-ETH, I'd prefer if Ethereum doesn't surpass Bitcoin as a result of the government abandoning fairness and neutrality, and discriminating agaist some uses of electricity over others.
- shadowgovt 4y ago
  By what principle is the government constrained from discriminating against some uses of electricity?
  - ETH_start 4y ago
    By the principle that people should be free to expend their resources on whatever they want, whether it's generating crypto, running high-powered gaming computers, or displaying abstract art. When someone buys electricity, does it belong to them, or some totalitarian government that micromanages its private citizens actions? If the former, then what peaceful behavior one uses their electricity for should be of no concern to the laws that restrict our behavior. If the environmental costs of crypto mining are genuinely your concern, the best solution is to advocate an agnostic solution, like restricting CO2 generating sources of energy, or energy consumption for ALL non-essentials (e.g. tourism, video games, crypto, etc). Singling out crypto for its environmental costs, and calling for targeted restrictions on it that exempt other non-essential uses of energy, suggests a superficial basis for your position, like a negative emotional association, or dislike of crypto proponents.
    - shadowgovt 4y ago
      That's not really how taxes work. Over the course of the day, I'll buy gas for a car, some art supplies, a few groceries, a pack of cigarettes, and dinner and a beer at a restaurant. The taxes paid on those differ wildly (with the cigarettes and beer definitely taxed with an eye on minimizing consuming of them). Tax is a tool for both revenue generation and behavior shaping; has been for centuries. Nothing totalitarian about it. In this case, the creation of crypto bits is, ostensibly, wealth creation. Of course the government can tax the materials that go into that asymmetrically, much as many states exempt residential natural gas from tax but not commercial.

mattgreenrocks 4y ago

I'm really tempted to buy some ETH at this point, and I'm a crypto skeptic who owns nothing. Smart move?

bradjohnson 4y ago
If red hasn't come up in a while on a roulette table, is it a smart move to bet on red?
- ipaddr 4y ago
  It's about 50-50 (minus 0 and double 00) regardless
  - bradjohnson 4y ago
    I'm saying that any knowledge you think might tip the scales in one direction is inconsequential. You will lose money or gain money depending on the will of those with the most stake. It is never a "smart move" to invest in crypto. It is gambling. Maybe get a lady friend to blow on your mouse before you click buy.
    - Mistletoe 4y ago
      Never a smart move? It's been the best performing asset like clockwork 3 out of every 4 years since inception, in time with the Bitcoin halving cycles. https://twitter.com/TimmerFidelity/status/1653114784257040384 https://twitter.com/TimmerFidelity/status/165311478425704038...
      - bradjohnson 4y ago
        There is no basis for the increase in value. Crypto at large is a Ponzi scheme where the increase in amount of suckers buying into it is the sole evidence given for its usefulness. Every stalwart crypto supporter talks out of both sides of their mouth every time they are questioned about the actual utility of crypto. Is it the future of money (AKA useful liquidity) or is it a great investment that can only increase in value (AKA speculative deflationary asset)? It cannot be both and it is certainly not useful as money. Makes you wonder why DOES the line go up?
        ipaddr 4y ago
        In fairness share prices have no basis aside from supply and demand.
- mattgreenrocks 4y ago
  Fair enough. Thanks!
tmpz22 4y ago
Yeah you'll get rich quick do it - I would suggest paying for some Udemy/Patreon courses to do it effectively though. Oh and you can pay for private discords for the inside scoop
Mistletoe 4y ago
I'm not a good person to ask since I've been drinking the crypto kool-aid since I was an Ethereum miner long ago and now staker. In a world of rampant money printing and inflation and artificial everything, yes I think Ethereum will be useful for a very long time. https://ultrasound.money/ https://ultrasound.money/
- bradjohnson 4y ago
  Useful how? Linking a real-time deflation chart doesn't exactly scream "useful".
  - Mistletoe 4y ago
    Freedom from monetary debasement. An attempt for the first time in human history to have a global currency not follow the "money printing, debasement, start a war to try and fix it/civilization collapse" cycle. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BOGMBASE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debasement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debasement
    - bradjohnson 4y ago
      There's no such thing as monetary debasement for bank notes as there is no intrinsic value for the physical dollar. If you're saying that inflation in general is bad for the economy, I would encourage you to read this: https://www.britannica.com/money/inflation-vs-deflation https://www.britannica.com/money/inflation-vs-deflation

ETH_start 4y ago

Yes, and while I'm pro-ETH, I'd prefer if Ethereum doesn't surpass Bitcoin as a result of the government abandoning fairness and neutrality, and discriminating agaist some uses of electricity over others.

shadowgovt 4y ago
By what principle is the government constrained from discriminating against some uses of electricity?
- ETH_start 4y ago
  By the principle that people should be free to expend their resources on whatever they want, whether it's generating crypto, running high-powered gaming computers, or displaying abstract art. When someone buys electricity, does it belong to them, or some totalitarian government that micromanages its private citizens actions? If the former, then what peaceful behavior one uses their electricity for should be of no concern to the laws that restrict our behavior. If the environmental costs of crypto mining are genuinely your concern, the best solution is to advocate an agnostic solution, like restricting CO2 generating sources of energy, or energy consumption for ALL non-essentials (e.g. tourism, video games, crypto, etc). Singling out crypto for its environmental costs, and calling for targeted restrictions on it that exempt other non-essential uses of energy, suggests a superficial basis for your position, like a negative emotional association, or dislike of crypto proponents.
  - shadowgovt 4y ago
    That's not really how taxes work. Over the course of the day, I'll buy gas for a car, some art supplies, a few groceries, a pack of cigarettes, and dinner and a beer at a restaurant. The taxes paid on those differ wildly (with the cigarettes and beer definitely taxed with an eye on minimizing consuming of them). Tax is a tool for both revenue generation and behavior shaping; has been for centuries. Nothing totalitarian about it. In this case, the creation of crypto bits is, ostensibly, wealth creation. Of course the government can tax the materials that go into that asymmetrically, much as many states exempt residential natural gas from tax but not commercial.