bitcoin, death of

[quzi]

https://medium.com/@octskyward/the-r...nt-dabb30201f7

Interesting times.

[Milenko]

Indeed. I didn't read the whole thing, although it is very interesting. I just never understood the tech side of how that all works. It sounds like it just got more popular than what the software can handle and it can't expand because of certain people controlling it.

I have only a very rudimentary understanding of all this, but wouldn't their dilemma be resolved if there were just more competing cryptocurrencies? If Bitcoin was so successful in the beginning, I don't see why more similar ones didn't take off with as much success.

I actually had a thought recently of starting one for escort community. It will be called Fuck Bucks. I just need one computer geek and five hot providers to get on board and I'll have Bitcoin beat within a week lol. Anyone wanna support the cause?

[pussycat]

Any commodity or currency is subject to manipulation. It's hard enough to keep central banks from manipulating the currencies they create. The idea that Bitcoin would be anything but corrupted was a fantasy for techies who don't understand what money is.

[ScarletSeven6]

Bitcoin is the backbone of online drug trade on the dark net, so it's big failure is in the regular cloud i suppose, and in other techie areas idk too much about, but it def still has it's place and demand. Interesting to watch how it goes though.

[endurance]

I'm not sure of the complete picture, but apparently this guy quit the team. And then went to go work for a competing startup funded by the banks... Which may have a centralized blockchain...

Possibly just another "do no evil" googler joining the dark side.

[Victoria Columbari]

I never really understood bitcoin so didn't invest into it. I am sure it will impact how gals pay for Backpage though.

[pussycat]

Originally Posted by ScarletSeven6

Bitcoin is the backbone of online drug trade on the dark net, so it's big failure is in the regular cloud i suppose, and in other techie areas idk too much about, but it def still has it's place and demand. Interesting to watch how it goes though.

It never really took off because it's value was being manipulated by insiders so no one trusted it.

[austin_voy]

Tech stuff. If the first two sentences cause MEGO (My Eyes Glazed Over) skip to the end (END MEGO)

One of the problems with expanding the block size is that it instantly devalues the existing bitcoin population. And rather dramatically. Every byte extension halves the value of existing bitcoins. Now part of the reason it does this is because it also doubles the number of computations to solve an block and, since the transactions aren't traceable, there's no way to redeem old bitcoins with new ones at the new value. When the Mexican peso was devalued many years ago they rolled out new pesos (10:1) and all transactions after the official date were computed that way and all change was (supposed to be) given in new pesos. And banks were exchanging new pesos for old. And after a second date your old pesos were collectables.

Now you can't do that with a currency that's untraceable and who's value can fluctuate dramatically. Partly because that change in value I listed above isn't instantaneous nor predictable.

Part two is that the mining software is dependent on the block size, and there's no standard beyond the actual specified results. This means that someone who can first develop the software wins.

Next is the actual hardware. Mining doesn't use anything like your PC. Or a Cray. Or Super Longhorn (over at Pickle, supposedly the "most powerful computer in the world"). They use ASICs (application specific integrated circuits). You actually lay down the software in hardware. This is more than firmware, it's more like laying down a track you drive your car around. And most of these would require serious changes, as in replacement. Which means the more money you have the faster you can make more money.

And then there's the power required. Most of the larger miners have entire rooms with nothing but a cluster that runs 24x7. Which takes a lot of wattage. And a lot of air conditioning. Sometimes as much as the rest of the house. Last year the Missouri cops busted a "grow house" because of the power use. Only it was a miner. And, as someone pointed out on one of the hacking groups, it was using too much power to be a grow house.

Finally, when you extend the block size you cause problems with the chain of trust for previously generated bitcoins. And the chain of trust is the key part of the bit coin world.

And then, another finally, as you fork any project like this you start to get into conflicts. Even something as "universal" as Linux has run into some issues due to forks. Hell, even Red Hat itself had problems when it forked off a commercial version from its consumer/free version.

I've seen three referred papers about bitcoin. The one I read, in The Communications of the ACM, claimed that there are, in fact, an infinite number of possible results, but that the distance between them increases asymptotically towards infinity. For me it was flat out fascinating, but I'm well versed in number theory (I needed it while I was working on my never completed masters).

END MEGO. Fail? No, eventually whimper to a stall? Yes. Has it done so? Just ask a petroleum engineer about whether we've hit "peak oil". Any oil & gas people out there want to answer that question? Like "peak oil", "peak bitcoin" will get two people giving you three answers. Mathematically we know what the ultimate value of the block chain will be. Kind of. It's calcuable, but hasn't been calculated. Kind of like scratch offs. The lottery commission will keep selling them even though the big prize has already been awarded.

[Lena Duvall]

Very interesting article. Educating myself more on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is at the top of my to-do list and has been something I've been meaning to delve into for many months now. I first learned about Bitcoin a while ago, but then it became more prominent in my imagination after the debacle between Backpage and the major credit card companies.

[endurance]

It's a great thing to keep on the radar. The banks/governments are trying to eliminate cash (the eu just eliminated the 500 euro note and they are trial ballooning getting rid of the 100 USD) and you can imagine the power they will hold over our lives if our only means of currency are their monitored accounts.