4 ms·

Large, private credit bureaux hold a significant amount of my most intimate personal financial data, much of which is shared freely with banks but grudgingly (a

by austinz 13y ago

Large, private credit bureaux hold a significant amount of my most intimate personal financial data, much of which is shared freely with banks but grudgingly (at best) with me. Credit card numbers and other identifying data are constantly being stolen, hacked, or leaked due to gross incompetence. Machine learning algorithms are constantly going through my spending habits for fraud protection purposes (and God knows what else). I don't like Bitcoins and I don't own any, but even I can see why there might be people reluctant to rush headlong into the glorious, corporate-mediated digital future that the author claims is making cash obsolete. I cherish the option to pay for things in cash. I understand why "upstanding citizens" might cherish the option to carry out transactions using Bitcoins.

collyw 13y ago
I don't really trust the banks 100% with my savings, but I trust bitcoin even less. At least the banks have official government backing (another party I don't trust 100%). I guess if you trust bitcoin more than the combination of the other two it makes sense.
- ryanjshaw 13y ago
  You don't trust Bitcoin-based systems today, but will you tomorrow? What fascinates me is the number of people who answer that question with a definitive "NO!", some even going as far as this guy with a "NO AND YOU SHOULDN'T TOO OR YOU'RE A CRIMINAL AND I'M GOING TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO STOP YOU!" Yet when you read their justification for their absolutist position, it's always based on flaws in today's systems and services, or a naive tacit assumption that every problem must be solved with an automated solution baked into the protocol, or a strawman belief that just because some Bitcoin supporters think it should replace cash that that is the only possibility worth discusing. Our present banking system - including regulatory oversight - did not develop in 5 years, so why do people expect the decentralised cryptocurrency environment to be any different? I have no idea if Bitcoin-based systems will become a material part of our civilization's future. Were I to guess, I think the technology is novel and interesting enough that something useful will come out of it. But I really don't understand people who seem to claim it definitely will or won't 'go big' - why don't they just sit back and see, or participate, and phrase their beliefs more conservatively with a good dose of "I don't know but I think ... because ..."? What's with all the prophets running around?
  - collyw 13y ago
    Its not the technology as such I don't trust (I haven't read up on it enough to say one way or another). Its the whole infrastructure surrounding it. I don't trust bitcoin exchanges not to be hacked. Maybe the currency itself. I don't trust there not to be bugs in the systems yet. Some governments are trying to ban the use of it. Whats to say your government will not be next? If it gets banned, I assume the value of any bitcoins you own will go down. Mt .Gox just declared bankruptcy. If it was a normal currency, then you would have some sort of guarantee (in the UK anyway) so that at least some of your money is protected. Do the people that had bitcoins there have any of that protection?
- sentenza 13y ago
  One main reason that Bitcoin cannot, IMO, replace the current banking system is that the coupling of banks and government guarantees stability. If you have a bank account anywhere within the EU, the first 100.000€ (or thereabout) on that account are guaranteed by the government, no matter what happens to the bank. In addition, the value of the currency, via the central bank and the government, is strongly coupled to the economic output of the overall economy, which also does change slowly. Any scenario in which "they" started "messing" with our money would probably either end in a pitchforks-foodcans-and-ammo situation or already be in the context of a major catastrophy such as war. What I'm trying to say is that a scenario in which you can't trust the banks and the government with your money but the rest of the economy is still fine is rather unlikely.

by austinz 13y ago

collyw 13y ago

I don't really trust the banks 100% with my savings, but I trust bitcoin even less. At least the banks have official government backing (another party I don't trust 100%). I guess if you trust bitcoin more than the combination of the other two it makes sense.

ryanjshaw 13y ago
You don't trust Bitcoin-based systems today, but will you tomorrow? What fascinates me is the number of people who answer that question with a definitive "NO!", some even going as far as this guy with a "NO AND YOU SHOULDN'T TOO OR YOU'RE A CRIMINAL AND I'M GOING TO DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO STOP YOU!" Yet when you read their justification for their absolutist position, it's always based on flaws in today's systems and services, or a naive tacit assumption that every problem must be solved with an automated solution baked into the protocol, or a strawman belief that just because some Bitcoin supporters think it should replace cash that that is the only possibility worth discusing. Our present banking system - including regulatory oversight - did not develop in 5 years, so why do people expect the decentralised cryptocurrency environment to be any different? I have no idea if Bitcoin-based systems will become a material part of our civilization's future. Were I to guess, I think the technology is novel and interesting enough that something useful will come out of it. But I really don't understand people who seem to claim it definitely will or won't 'go big' - why don't they just sit back and see, or participate, and phrase their beliefs more conservatively with a good dose of "I don't know but I think ... because ..."? What's with all the prophets running around?
- collyw 13y ago
  Its not the technology as such I don't trust (I haven't read up on it enough to say one way or another). Its the whole infrastructure surrounding it. I don't trust bitcoin exchanges not to be hacked. Maybe the currency itself. I don't trust there not to be bugs in the systems yet. Some governments are trying to ban the use of it. Whats to say your government will not be next? If it gets banned, I assume the value of any bitcoins you own will go down. Mt .Gox just declared bankruptcy. If it was a normal currency, then you would have some sort of guarantee (in the UK anyway) so that at least some of your money is protected. Do the people that had bitcoins there have any of that protection?
sentenza 13y ago
One main reason that Bitcoin cannot, IMO, replace the current banking system is that the coupling of banks and government guarantees stability. If you have a bank account anywhere within the EU, the first 100.000€ (or thereabout) on that account are guaranteed by the government, no matter what happens to the bank. In addition, the value of the currency, via the central bank and the government, is strongly coupled to the economic output of the overall economy, which also does change slowly. Any scenario in which "they" started "messing" with our money would probably either end in a pitchforks-foodcans-and-ammo situation or already be in the context of a major catastrophy such as war. What I'm trying to say is that a scenario in which you can't trust the banks and the government with your money but the rest of the economy is still fine is rather unlikely.