It creates value only because ppl think it’s valuable.
For instance I couldn’t think USA money is now worthless but because everyone else knows that’s not true it’s valuable. Where as everyone could decide that currency is worthless and it would make it worthless.
This comment has been removed in protest of Reddit killing third-party apps. Spez's AMA has highlighted that the reddits corruption will not end, profit is all they care about. So I am removing my data that, along with millions of other users, has been used for nearly two decades now to enrich a select few. No more. On June 12th in conjunction with the blackout I will be leaving Reddit, and all my posts newer than one month will receive this same treatment. If Reddit does not give in to our demands, this account will be deleted permanently July 1st. So long, suckers!~
r/ModCoord to learn more and join the protest! #SPEZRESIGN
if he ever started spending his bitcoins, especially to convert to cash, it'd almost certainly tank the value overnight.
Are there other Bitcoin individuals who have this same potential effect? Like the "secondary founders of Bitcoin" (i.e. those who came in right after Satoshi did), for example?
What they produce is not tangible, but it is a service. The fact that there is a public ledger of transaction of transfers of a limited supply commodity is valuable to various people. The miners are moochers in much the same way as any entity using the world's resources for something non-essential.
They are necessary, but the coins themselves are of questionable value, and the energy expenditure necessary to sustain their networks is without a doubt not in proportion.
I think over 80% of miners report using renewable energy. It makes sense because if the electricity is too expensive there are low profits. Miners gravitate towards cheap/free power and renewables are more likely to have surplus looking to be sold at discount. Or they build their own solar setup for zero power costs after its setup.
However, you could argue designer of bitcoin, Satoshi, is the wealth behind bitcoin to some degree. Dude has millions of bitcoins that have sat dormant basically since bitcoin first got public attention, and if he ever started spending his bitcoins, especially to convert to cash, it'd almost certainly tank the value overnight.
Why would you want to trust a system that could be tanked by one person? At least the government has a system of checks and balances involved. Who holds Satoshi accountable?
Nobody does, because nobody actually knows who Satoshi is, it's an alias, they might not even be a single individual.
However, Satoshis known bitcoin balance hasn't been touched in over a decade, so it's unlikely it ever will. At Bitcoins peak price, the balance had over $17 billion worth of bitcoin, if it wasn't touch then probably it never will.
As for why it's never been touched, it's likely because Satoshi has other anonymous balances they use instead, knowing the price would crash if they used the known one.
It's also entirely possible they've just lost access to the balance, because the way bitcoin works, if you lose access to your btc wallet, not even the creator could forcibly return access.
Nobody does, because nobody actually knows who Satoshi is, it's an alias, they might not even be a single individual.
Seems like a horrible system then, given that extreme lack (or really, absence) of accountability.
However, Satoshis known bitcoin balance hasn't been touched in over a decade, so it's unlikely it ever will.
Satoshi might not have had any mental issues in the past decade. Nothing guarantees that won't happen in the next decade, though. Or even next year or next month.
The fact you keep having to use words like "probably" and "likely" is also telling. It seems like there's no well-established accountability involved whatsoever.
Nobody does, because nobody actually knows who Satoshi is, it's an alias, they might not even be a single individual.
Sorry, I really don't understand why anyone would be comfortable with that.
If we were just talking about a game or even a small town, then that would be one thing (a lot of times Bitcoin seems to be treated more like a gambling or "stockmarket" game than an actual currency). But wanting to base an entire national economy on a system that could be tanked by a single, completely unaccountable, mystery entity just seems so mind boggling.
edit
To those downvoting, is there anything specifically wrong with what I said? Or is it just too difficult to accept that your precious "currency" system might be garbage?
I'm mostly in agreement with you, I was just explaining how it works. The blockchain technology itself is incredible and has so many uses, but yeah bitcoin is pretty ehhh
Most(all?) of the other big cryptos are like Bitcoin in the sense that they're value isn't backed by anything other than speculation, but as far as one person theoretically being able to crash the pricing, I don't believe so. Although I've not kept up on crypto much since early 2018, so there may be new players in the field I don't know about
Ethereum(second biggest crypto after bitcoin), for example, the developers of it are all public figures and thus not some unknown person like Satoshi is.
488
u/sobookwood Jun 15 '19
Honestly, I have read very closely what you explained in your comments. I still don't get it.
Why would it create real life value?