3 ms·
On the fact that Bitcoin has a Kill Switch; and how to disconnect it.
- chiph 14y agoSo, the answer is to take away their money? That seems morally wrong somehow...
- asciilifeform 14y agoThe only way you could actually take anyone's bitcoins against their will is by whacking them over the head and stealing their private keys. The solution I proposed is instead to create a "schism" Bitcoin network that refuses to trade with the pyramid scheme operators and does not recognize their coins as valid. Nothing is being stolen from another person. Instead, the schism network's users will be protected from being robbed in the future by early adopters who possess a great many coins without having placed any dollars, gold, etc. into the exchanges. Yes, my solution is in some ways harsh and inelegant, but if you don't like it, you should be prepared to deal with the Great Bitcoin Flood once Satoshi and friends finally decide to cash out. Or avoid Bitcoin entirely.
- mdonahoe 14y agoIsn't this similar to stocks where a single person owns a large percentage of a company? Zuckerberg could do some serious damage for FB if he decided to sell everything at once. But it is in his best interest not to. Over time more bitcoins will be mined, and the 400k hoards won't be as powerful.
- asciilifeform 14y agoThere is an important difference. Zuckerberg doesn't try to hide his ownership of his massive stock holdings by parcelling the whole thing out to a million shills. And if he were to try, he could very well go to jail. The hoarders of the Great Bitcoin Hoard, on the other hand, have worked hard to stay in the shadows, and have largely succeeded - until now.