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Alternative hypothesis: Bitcoin was created by a group of quants at some investment bank for a laugh and/or money. Bitcoin has well-known built-in weaknesses,

Alternative hypothesis: Bitcoin was created by a group of quants at some investment bank for a laugh and/or money. Bitcoin has well-known built-in weaknesses, e.g. the limited supply; it was designed to be exploitable, and we see this being done in the real work as we speak. You find the knowledge how to work markets at investment banks.

jacquesm 14y ago
> it was designed to be exploitable That's a pretty bold statement for which I'm not aware of any proof whatsoever. Bitcoin is pretty rough and ready when you first look at it but on closer inspection it is actually remarkably solid.
- chipotle_coyote 14y ago
  I suspect -- putting words in the OP's mouth, admittedly -- that the argument isn't that Bitcoin is exploitable in terms of software engineering, but rather in terms of BTC market manipulation, given that he mentioned the arbitrary cap on the total number of Bitcoins possible as a limitation. (I recognize that whether this is a flaw or virtue, or perhaps some of both simultaneously, depends on who you ask.)
  - snowwrestler 14y ago
    I assumed that's what he meant too. The total market cap of the entire bitcoin economy today is a bit over $1 billion USD. That is a small enough number that a large financial institution, or maybe even a few rich people, could manipulate the price with large transactions.
rthomas6 14y ago
>Bitcoin has well-known built-in weaknesses, e.g. the limited supply; it was designed to be exploitable, and we see this being done in the real work as we speak. Why do people not realize this? Rant time: Bitcoin's large amount of deflation was a fucking stupid decision and is playing a very large part in its own price volatility. Whoever made it was so blinded by their own economic ideologies that they figured since inflation's a problem, massive deflation must be the answer! Never mind the currency's very design will prevent it from ever really being effectively used for credit or payment installments, like rent or financing for something. I'm so sick of people talking about "investing in Bitcoins." If it rises greatly in price (more than a few percent a year!) it's really bad, not good! If it rises that quickly then it's not a currency because nobody will be incentivized to spend it! And the worst part is, that's the very way it was designed. Can Bitcoin ever be used as a real currency? Someday, once the market cap gets big enough to limit the deflation to a reasonable amount. That won't happen for years. Years and years and years. Until then it will be a volatile, bubble-prone commodity with almost zero intrinsic value, because the creators made the fucking ridiculous decision to cap the supply in a global economy that we expect to (presumably) grow in real terms for at least hundreds of years.

jacquesm 14y ago

> it was designed to be exploitable That's a pretty bold statement for which I'm not aware of any proof whatsoever. Bitcoin is pretty rough and ready when you first look at it but on closer inspection it is actually remarkably solid.

chipotle_coyote 14y ago
I suspect -- putting words in the OP's mouth, admittedly -- that the argument isn't that Bitcoin is exploitable in terms of software engineering, but rather in terms of BTC market manipulation, given that he mentioned the arbitrary cap on the total number of Bitcoins possible as a limitation. (I recognize that whether this is a flaw or virtue, or perhaps some of both simultaneously, depends on who you ask.)
- snowwrestler 14y ago
  I assumed that's what he meant too. The total market cap of the entire bitcoin economy today is a bit over $1 billion USD. That is a small enough number that a large financial institution, or maybe even a few rich people, could manipulate the price with large transactions.

rthomas6 14y ago

>Bitcoin has well-known built-in weaknesses, e.g. the limited supply; it was designed to be exploitable, and we see this being done in the real work as we speak. Why do people not realize this? Rant time: Bitcoin's large amount of deflation was a fucking stupid decision and is playing a very large part in its own price volatility. Whoever made it was so blinded by their own economic ideologies that they figured since inflation's a problem, massive deflation must be the answer! Never mind the currency's very design will prevent it from ever really being effectively used for credit or payment installments, like rent or financing for something. I'm so sick of people talking about "investing in Bitcoins." If it rises greatly in price (more than a few percent a year!) it's really bad, not good! If it rises that quickly then it's not a currency because nobody will be incentivized to spend it! And the worst part is, that's the very way it was designed. Can Bitcoin ever be used as a real currency? Someday, once the market cap gets big enough to limit the deflation to a reasonable amount. That won't happen for years. Years and years and years. Until then it will be a volatile, bubble-prone commodity with almost zero intrinsic value, because the creators made the fucking ridiculous decision to cap the supply in a global economy that we expect to (presumably) grow in real terms for at least hundreds of years.