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Although we are all quivering in anticipation of all these 8 thousand word essays, the fact remains that bitcoin is being used and works well.

by toasted 12y ago

lifeisstillgood 12y ago
I think the question is why is it used and what do we mean works well? It does solve the Byzantium generals problem rather neatly, which is good. But I doubt that is why it is used. It is used partly because it suddenly became free money for a lucky subset of people who found you could exchange something you got for free for something valuable (drugs sex etc) - and those were at such high rates that the people receiving the bitcoins were also basically being given free money (when one read the official exchange rates) This managed to fuel an interesting cycle. I would be interested in seeing if bitcoins exchange slips have affected it's purchasing power at exactly the same ratio or if it is being used as a barter not a currency (in these dark corners of the drug dealing world) I would also suggest that (afaik) real drug dealers who do real big deals work on serious guarantees of trust. Things like knowing the person you are dealing with, and where their children go to school. So things like trustless currencies in these environments are not trustless - quite the opposite.
- toasted 12y ago
  None of this post really makes much sense...
- joepie91_ 12y ago
  What's with the focus on drugs? Your comment about trustlessness also isn't quite correct; Bitcoin is trustless in the sense that it does not require personal trust for its operation (like eg. the USD does). That's unrelated to whether trust in the other party is a component in a transaction or not - which, realistically, doesn't have anything to do with the currency being used.
  - lifeisstillgood 12y ago
    Because the parent was talking about drugs (well illicit transactions) as the proof that bitcoin worked well as a currency. I'm unconvinced. And tired hence the rambling. I suggest that anything will work as a medium of exchange especially if you have the threat of death to back up your trust needs. All that is needed is the belief on both sides that bitcoin (or a fleet of Porsches) will hold it's value long enough to complete both this transaction and enough similar transactions to expend the bitcoins received. So bitcoins don't seem special in this regard - they just seem like cash. And that I don't think is a valid proof they can become a real currency as used in the "trust" economy. I do accept that trusting the other side won't run off with my drugs is different from trusting the Bank of England won't inflate away my value. But the vast majority of transactions in USD don't have that worry on any sensible timescale either. (Not true of say Zimbabwe) Thank you - and apologies for commenting whilst tired. Edit: well the parent (toasted) was commenting up thread on drugs, but now that's massively down thread and this making my comments on drugs pretty weird. I see

Although we are all quivering in anticipation of all these 8 thousand word essays, the fact remains that bitcoin is being used and works well.

by toasted 12y ago

Although we are all quivering in anticipation of all these 8 thousand word essays, the fact remains that bitcoin is being used and works well.

lifeisstillgood 12y ago

I think the question is why is it used and what do we mean works well? It does solve the Byzantium generals problem rather neatly, which is good. But I doubt that is why it is used. It is used partly because it suddenly became free money for a lucky subset of people who found you could exchange something you got for free for something valuable (drugs sex etc) - and those were at such high rates that the people receiving the bitcoins were also basically being given free money (when one read the official exchange rates) This managed to fuel an interesting cycle. I would be interested in seeing if bitcoins exchange slips have affected it's purchasing power at exactly the same ratio or if it is being used as a barter not a currency (in these dark corners of the drug dealing world) I would also suggest that (afaik) real drug dealers who do real big deals work on serious guarantees of trust. Things like knowing the person you are dealing with, and where their children go to school. So things like trustless currencies in these environments are not trustless - quite the opposite.

toasted 12y ago
None of this post really makes much sense...
joepie91_ 12y ago
What's with the focus on drugs? Your comment about trustlessness also isn't quite correct; Bitcoin is trustless in the sense that it does not require personal trust for its operation (like eg. the USD does). That's unrelated to whether trust in the other party is a component in a transaction or not - which, realistically, doesn't have anything to do with the currency being used.
- lifeisstillgood 12y ago
  Because the parent was talking about drugs (well illicit transactions) as the proof that bitcoin worked well as a currency. I'm unconvinced. And tired hence the rambling. I suggest that anything will work as a medium of exchange especially if you have the threat of death to back up your trust needs. All that is needed is the belief on both sides that bitcoin (or a fleet of Porsches) will hold it's value long enough to complete both this transaction and enough similar transactions to expend the bitcoins received. So bitcoins don't seem special in this regard - they just seem like cash. And that I don't think is a valid proof they can become a real currency as used in the "trust" economy. I do accept that trusting the other side won't run off with my drugs is different from trusting the Bank of England won't inflate away my value. But the vast majority of transactions in USD don't have that worry on any sensible timescale either. (Not true of say Zimbabwe) Thank you - and apologies for commenting whilst tired. Edit: well the parent (toasted) was commenting up thread on drugs, but now that's massively down thread and this making my comments on drugs pretty weird. I see