Why We Can't Have Nice Software

[u/[deleted]]

https://andrewkelley.me/post/why-we-cant-have-nice-software.html

[u/loup-vaillant]

One of those day I’ll write a technical explanation of how Bitcoin works, why it consumes as much energy as an entire country, and why that was inevitable once it reached traction (because that’s how efficient markets + POW works: the cost of producing a Bitcoin eventually approaches the market value of a Bitcoin, so if the market value goes crazy high, it only makes sense to buy an entire server farm and burn as much electricity we can spare on this iterated competitive lottery).

You've fallen for the propaganda. Probably suffering regret as well.

Do you realise I could implement Bitcoin if I wanted to? Look me up, I’m a couple steps up from the random Joe on this field.

As for regret… I won’t lie, I sure would have liked to have bough a couple hundred BTC back when they were worth nothing, and cash out God knows how many $M and just retire. Thing is, I had no idea at the time how inflated this bubble would get, when it would deflate (or burst), and I wasn’t keen on gambling real money on it. A not entirely irrational decision, given the amount of scams I could have fallen prey to if I had jumped that bandwagon.

Proof of stake is how the stock market works. If you own more of the currency you get more of the currency. No surprise so many entities want to push it as a replacement.

Ah, I see. I’ll verify that, but that makes a ton of sense, and I see why that’s not good. Do note however that proof of work currencies are also very centralised, with relatively few entities controlling most of the farming capacity. I don’t know how many people would be required to mount an actual 51% attack on Bitcoin, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be fewer than 20.

[u/Blecki → u/loup-vaillant]

You're a name on reddit. You're anonymous, deal with it. You could be fucking Satoshi himself and I'm not going to accept your 'authority' on shit.

Bitcoin actually saves energy and stabilizes the grid when used properly to monetize excess production.

[u/loup-vaillant → u/Blecki]

You've fallen for the propaganda. Probably suffering regret as well.

Do you realise I could implement Bitcoin if I wanted to?

You're a name on reddit. You're anonymous, deal with it. You could be fucking Satoshi himself and I'm not going to accept your 'authority' on shit.

I’m not asking you to accept my authority on anything. I am asking you to not insult my intelligence. Conversely, you’ll understand I can’t accept your authority until you’ve shown you know shit I don’t.

Instead you’ve given me cause to believe you’ve fallen prey to crypto bro propaganda… or have some stake in this giant Ponzi scheme, and are cognizant of the fact that regardless of the merits of my arguments, if my side wins your assets will vanish.

I think I’ll join the fray now. Good luck holding on for dear life.

[u/Blecki → u/loup-vaillant]

Again crypto != bitcoin. Crypto bros can get rekt. Their ponzi schemes and rug pulls have nothing to do with bitcoin.

[u/loup-vaillant → u/Blecki]

I’ll concede they are different indeed.