Starting this thread because, frankly, I’m the only person I know who knows a decent amount about it. I’ve given a couple public talks on the subject here in Austin, so if you have any questions I can answer I’m happy to do so.
Well maybe “happy” is a stretch, but I’ll fuckin’ answer them if I can.
Before anyone asks, don’t buy Dogecoin. Jesu’s Chris Steakhouse.
I get the impression that bitcoin is a plot to discredit the concept of money and what money is worth and why
Well money will eventually be irrelevant when all our thoughts are processed by the quantum blockchain and our flesh brains are used to mine/verify the transactions so don’t worry too much.
When spuds are currency I will be king
We’ll be in the Wall E future well before then, based on our addiction to consumables and the resulting pollution and biological void.
Few people realize it, but mining BTC is one of the worst pollution hazards and energy drains in human history. Imagine all that energy wasted just to make an immaterial thing that doesn’t really exist except as as a static charge, possibly the most volatile phenomenon in the whole universe.
All those millions of miners eventually get reycled by humanity…not. Nobody will give a shit because they’re too focused on watching the market go up and down and up and down and…
All money is made up. It’s just who made it up most recently that makes it hot shit.
A checking account is virtual too, but insured against accidental or malicious loss.
A million dollars in BTC on a destroyed USB drive is gone baby gone forever.
Now, you could argue you can also burn $1,000,000 in cash, but it’s a lot harder and also illegal. At least in the US, paper currency is relatively non-volatile compared to BTC, whether in physical form or in the market. And all coins are made of durable metals which tend to survive for centuries.
What’s the cost to the environment from BTC vs. paper currency?
Modern coins are mostly made of zinc, with some spray tan for effect. Zinc is what we call a “sacrificial metal.”
This I can almost agree with. A lot of energy is put into mining or verifying blockchains. But, it has led to some significant gains in compute tech, as well. Maybe an even trade.
Weren’t currencies originally representative of actual wealth held by the state in trust?
You have just more-or-less defined fiat currency, which is what we have. The value is a shared delusion.
What’s a blockchain?
Edit I don’t know why I hit reply to doofa this question is for phrost.
A blockchain is a long string of cryptographic codes which “authenticate,” a transaction; the transaction could be “you made a coin,” or the transaction could be “you gave a coin to X.”
I still don’t get it.
So it’s a record?
An encrypted record of a transaction taking place?
In theory, you should be able to start from ground 0 and calculate all the way to now, getting the exact same results.
You’re thinking of pennies. All other US coins are made of copper and nickel alloy. There’s no Zinc in dimes, quarters, or nickels.
By the way, that’s why pennies last so long. Zinc is one of the most durable, environment resistant metals.
Like a moth to my flame
All value is shared delusion
Supply/demand
Things are worth what the market will bear
Etc etc etc
This is cool if true. I actually know one of the people claiming to have invented Bitcoin, I think I mentioned this before.
Craig Wright, a fellow forensics guy and brainiac claimed years ago and had a somewhat plausible story, but it was challenged by many. Still, he’s actively in court seeking to claim ownership.
If he’s the creator…god damn I wish I’d chatted with him a bit more before he went off the grid back when BTC was like $100 a coin…
There’s a good reason, it makes the graph easier to read.
OK, so pennies are 57% of all coins, therefore most modern coins are made of zinc.
You worded that…poorly but accurately I guess.
Such a radio guy thing to do. I award you 5 x 3.
