There is a finite, unchanging, pre-determined number of BTC that will ever exist. That means you cannot create more. The creation of more of an asset which devalues it. This is the inflation I am talking about. BTC is basically hard-coded to avoid that. BTC's purchasing power is all over the map and it is at present not a great hedge against USD's inflation for the reasons I've listed earlier. However, that will change with time as it goes along its journey from speculative asset all the way to standardized currency. At this point IMO the biggest threat to Bitcoin is not from governments or geopolitical events, but another technology coming along and usurping it. But first mover advantage is super powerful and BTC has that.
Look, it's clear you and I disagree about the viability of BTC. That's fine. I have no problem with you having a different opinion on the future of something so novel and speculative. But if you're gonna lie and generally be a dick, you can go pound sand.
Shared this in D&D and seems to have gotten glossed over. To be fair it's a lengthy 2+ hour video but it doesn't paint a pretty picture of bitcoin, NFTs, DAOs and the like at all.
I watched that this morning. I'm a subscriber and fan of Dan's channel but I found it odd he spent 30 minutes shoveling old mud on bitcoin and eth when the video was about NFT. The technical/practical problems of each don't really have anything to do with each other. His critique seems to center around the grifters and scammers, which is not a BTC/Eth problem, but definitely a crypto/NFT problem. I personally don't see the value in NFTs, but I found this video to be a much better critique at a high level of them:
It was a bit of a derail for that D&D thread and it it a 2hr long dump on something neither party is really responsible for... I liked the yt because he's able to articulate his thoughts and reasonings very well. He also outlined scams and dangers that I didn't know about, like the whole inserting viruses into other people's wallet...**** like that is going to pop up more frequently as the tools become more available and the roi on doing it increases with the market cap. I'll still buy and jump into crypto because I'm a degen and I like the gains more than the slick house of lies we have with the stock market. I will however point this to people who ask about crypto. If they're alright with that in their degen hearts, then there's more research to be had.
I got a lot more out of it than just the grift/scam. The fact that bitcoin is extremely inefficient as a ledger is a big one. That a company like VISA can do in one minute a number of transactions that takes bitcoin 6 hours. That it mostly seems to benefit a few hundred thousand people that like to gamble instead of actually provide benefit to the vast majority of participants in the economy. That it does nothing to correct patterns of human behavior that lead to grifts and scams. The lack of consumer protection in bitcoin, and that in order to cash out you need new bitcoin investors to cover what you're cashing out on otherwise you can't. That those bitcoin stickers you see in gas station is all just a bunch of BS to try and make it seem like it's actually used in real life more than a gambling mechanism for most people. The lack of copyright protections. The desire of tech bros to use web3 where you may not want your data tracked but it's a default mechanism to do just that. So if child p*rn is posted, it's much harder to remove it. Or if a scorned lover posts revenge p*rn, again there's very little you can do to get it taken down. Or if you're a union gatherer, the fact that the ledger public discloses transactions only makes it easier for companies that wish to end any unionization efforts in their tracks. That it really only appears to primarily benefit 5% wealthy like your computer programmer tech bros to take more of the pie from the top 1% and really does little to help middle class or lower people. Again, it's a lengthy 2+ hour video so I'm probably typing rather scatter brained in all that it covered but it was very thorough and your counter video wasn't very convincing to me. To each their own though. Also, while this is anecdotal, to see people like Commodore prop it up constantly, who can't help but post misleading twitter posts as though it's his actual occupation, only makes me more skeptical of bitcoin as well. Not less. I do trust that people are making money investing in it. Otherwise why would you be in this thread right still talking it up? I just question the service it provides as revolutionary like some of you all do and found the video interesting as it shed some light to aspects of it that I wasn't aware of.
Thanks for posting. I usually listen to the first few minutes just to see if the rest of a video's worth it to me -- especially when it's 2+ hours long (lol!). I'm going to try to watch the rest of it later even though it seems like he starts with the '08 housing/financial collapse. I'm curious to hear what he has to say about NFTs. The Visa transactional comparison is pretty well-known. This is part of what Vitalik Buterin called cryptocurrency's version of a trilemma or the "blockchain trilemma". Basically it amounts to you have 3 dominating "things" you have to look at when building a cryptocurrency : decentralization, security, and scalability. Of these 3 things, you can only choose 2 when building a new crypto - you'll have to sacrifice 1. In BTC's case, security and decentralization was key... so bye-bye scalability, hello sluggishness and increased fees during heavy load. Ethereum is pretty much the same problem. I love the concept of crypto and still believe in a future for it, but it's often hard to find a happy medium among speculator, visionary, and realist. Maybe that's my trilemma. lol. I've always been trying to take a 30,000-foot view of these things where I try not to get hyped up or drawn in by "influencers", con men, baristas-turned-technical analysts, etc., but that's 95% of what I see nowadays, and there are a lot of people getting scammed out there. I have to also admit this is all in its infancy so no matter how many failures I see, it doesn't mean the concept, as a whole, is or will be a failure.
Like I said, I watched the video so you don't have to regurgitate its contents to me. I'm familiar with the arguments Dan brought up and I don't find them compelling. Umm, counter video? Did you even watch it? It's a criticism of NFTs. It's not "counter" to anything you said or posted, it's another video in the same vein. I've got two minds when it comes to BTC. The investor mind and the this-is-a-moving-humanity-forward project mind. As an investor, I've already had my tickle pickled, so I'm kind of whatever about the monetary aspect now. Line go up. Line go down. It's just fun to meme about lambos and make fun of daytraders. Otherwise, I believe in the utility of BTC to improve everyone's lives. So, that's why I cheer it on.
How though when it's just a way of acting as a public ledger and an inefficient one at that and only to the benefit a mere few hundred thousand people across the globe composed of over 7 billion people while consuming the energy equivalent of a small nation? That's the future that's moving humanity forward to you? A few hundred thousand people benefiting is improving everyone's lives to you? I don't buy it. The video covered how it'd be horrible for covering medical records, using as a replacement for the current web or even using as a means of currency at say the gas station to pay for gas or a snickers bar. What does it offer that doesn't already exist that is already more efficient at what it specifically does? What does it offer in terms of consumer protection as the video demonstrates you basically need to be a social celebrity with a big enough twitter following to get the people that operate bitcoin to notice you in order to fix a fraudulent transaction? That's not most people. How is it really decentralized if say a fraudulent transaction occurs and there's a fork to undo it, that you still require people to fix it? It seems like the people that operate bitcoin who take a cut off every transaction really want people to use bitcoin and say it's revolutionary while offering very little specifics at what's so revolutionary about it and things like NFTs are a way of manufacturing pretty shitty made content to use bitcoin currency because bitcoin doesn't want investors to cash out because if you cash out and there's no new investors cashing in, then people who cash out won't be able to because there's no money coming to cover the cash out. So in order to avert people from cashing out on their investment, you get shitty art NFTs. Memes for money. And what if quantum computing becomes a thing at some recent point in the future, say 50 years from now, and all cryptography as we know it becomes easily cracked? Wouldn't people want to cash out by the droves as cryptography is a supposed selling point of it? But wouldn't that crash bitcoin's economy and no one would be able to cash out thus requiring a government bailout at some point? How is that moving humanity forward and good for everyone as we've established that bailout would primarily go to only a few hundred thousand already wealthy people? Again I understand how in theory all this could work for you, but how does your personal wealth acquisition therefore translate to everyone benefits and humanity moves forward?
As a person dives down in the Bitcoin rabbit hole and truly understands its value and function, it doesnt take them long to realize why its pointless to teach people about the space who do not want to take the time to learn it. Case in point: You brought up quantum computing. You have put ZERO thought into that statement. There are tens of trillions of dollars worth of assets that are vulnerable to a device that can crack something like SHA256 encryption. Some how you equate the vulnerability of the Bitcoin network to the power of wiping every database on this planet clean. You clearly do not comprehend this statement. You know as much about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as I know about penny stocks and gambling at the casino. Its ok to say you have no interest. But stop pretending you know what you're talking about
I mean, being condescending is your calling card as a poster I've long since known. Have I attacked you? You're just being a dick cuz' you're so heavily invested in bitcoin. You could just stop being a dick and be a rational poster that explains your stance but you chose to be a dick. Good job on that. Debunk what's in the video or the paragraphs you parsed over because you can't form a rational argument to discuss. You're just being a dick. *******.
London, listen to Cafe Bitcoin on Clubhouse app, you will be converted in short order, and your future self will thank you
I just don't think you know enough to teach it. If you did, you'd explain it already. You've done nothing to debunk what's explained in the video except talk down to me. Back to your point about quantum cryptography affecting banking institutions since they use cryptographic algorithms too; I would think banking institutions and the like would simply go back to paper ledger tracking and develop multiple redundancies to track fraud until a quantum cryptography was in place to cover everyone's privacy needs. I would assume since bitcoin's big thing is it's cryptocurrency, it would be much harder to fall back onto paper ledger tracking and it would entirely depend on a quantum cryptography to be in place so there would be no pause in it's use. I don't believe that is likely to happen right out of the gate, thus I would assume bitcoin would crash whereas banking institutions would slow down significantly but could still function. The entire point of bitcoin would be moot wouldn't it? Thus, it would require a bailout wouldn't you think? Again, talk down if you want, but you basically indicate to me you're the exact demographic bitcoin enthusiasts would want to target. A low intelligent middle class person with disposal income upset by the 2008 bailout that wants to get his. You've done nothing to illustrate that's not who you are in all the years you've posted on this BBS and that's exactly one of the topics the video pointed out too. Now we could discuss this or you could continue to be an *sshole and talk down. I'm pretty sure I know already what path you're going to take.
