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Big Trouble for Bitcoin (medium.com)
TheCoop1984 writes: A blog post by ex-Bitcoin developer Mike Hearn has highlighted dysfunctional management right at the top of Bitcoin development. He says it is clear Bitcoin is on the verge of collapse, and lays out several compelling reasons why. Quoting: "What was meant to be a new, decentralized form of money that lacked 'systemically important institutions' and 'too big to fail' has become something even worse: a system completely controlled by just a handful of people. Worse still, the network is on the brink of technical collapse. The mechanisms that should have prevented this outcome have broken down, and as a result there’s no longer much reason to think Bitcoin can actually be better than the existing financial system." Is the end of Bitcoin on the horizon?
Whew? Not yet. Anyone wanna buy my bitcoins?
I'd be happy to buy your bit coins even exchange for $1 dollar/coin. Cash!
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Hasn't the bitcoin ecosystem always been a commendably elegant mathematical design embedded in a community that could be mistaken for a deadpanned absurdist parody of a financial system?
The blockchain concept is pretty cool, and does appear to actually work as advertised, it's just that everything not nailed down mathematically is a bit of a clusterfuck.
Who thinks this reads like a "Netcraft Confirms" post? Besides, Bitcoin's not going anywhere as long as folks are using it to buy drugs
Bitcoin as a unit of exchange is only worthwhile to those that aren't enthusiasts if it actually holds its value. If Bitcoin crashes, drug dealers will simply switch to a fiat currency again. It was used because it was convenient, not because it was special.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
He says it is clear Bitcoin is on the verge of collapse, and lays out several compelling reasons why.
Actually, the article is a pretty good read. The tl;dr version would go something like this: a community founded on idealism and principle found out that those things invariably end up coming in second place when competing with greed and power...and a small group of people ended up with some power, and some greed.
Quoting: "What was meant to be a new, decentralized form of money that lacked 'systemically important institutions' and 'too big to fail' has become something even worse: a system completely controlled by just a handful of people.
Someone's never played a game of Monopoly. There will always be a "one percent" when it comes to money and power. The point of those 'systemically important institutions' is that they're supposed to keep the playing field somewhat-level. They trade liberty for stability, and when it comes to money, that's a trade that most stable countries worldwide make in some form - it's amongst the reasons (or at least indicators) that they're stable.
Moreover, currency itself only works when it actually facilitates trade. A few drug sales here and a Dell server there isn't going to actually allow the currency to get into people's hands in order to then spend it. Start telling me that 2/3 of my bills can be paid in Bitcoin, and it's as simple to use as a credit card, and then we can talk. Tell me that it could fluctuate in such a way that thousands of my hard-earned dollars could disappear and reappear on a daily basis, and that Mt. Gox (amongst the largest and most well-known names in the Bitcoin business) can't even stay afloat...and suddenly the Federal Reserve starts looking pretty good - for all its warts, I'm unlikely to be homeless because of the acts of two or three people in China...
Worse still, the network is on the brink of technical collapse. The mechanisms that should have prevented this outcome have broken down, and as a result there’s no longer much reason to think Bitcoin can actually be better than the existing financial system."
Well, the data of "every single transaction ever" needed to live somewhere...and distributed amongst everyone would only work as long as the average computer could handle it. Even after reading the article, the fact of the matter is that a decentralized record of financial transactions would never scale to the level of American Express - it's not like AmEx could process every purchase off just one desktop with a residential cable modem, but in practice, that was Bitcoin's logical conclusion. Eventually, there would have been some sort of abstraction layer that limited the need for everyone to keep records of every transaction, everywhere, ever...and whoever was in charge of that system would have been the de facto federal reserve...
Is the end of Bitcoin on the horizon?
That depends on how long one can continue to believe in the idea that idealism can win over greed.
If there's on thing that will be the downfall of Western Civ, it's fucking libertarian conspiracy nuts like you.
If there's one thing that's completely unproductive, it's petty stereotyping, bullying, trolling and counterpointing everyone who doesn't support your line of reason.
No, the grandparent is right ... when you make an assumption that everybody will behave according to the rules because it's the Right Thing to Do, you are fundamentally denying reality, human nature, and the fact that if even only a tiny amount of people decide they have no interest in Doing The Right Thing then the entire thing can (and will) fall apart.
That's why we have police, prisons, armies, and all sorts of things.
Because the simple reality is, if you are telling yourself that everything will be OK because people will Do the Right Thing ... then things are not going to be OK.
Society is a thin veneer trying to keep us all on the same track. But pretending there isn't an underlying element of greedy, vicious, selfish bastards is just self delusion.
Stop pretending like human nature is some truly enlightened thing, and that we're past our baser instincts. We never will be that. And if we ever were that, we'd fall prey to the first person born who still was.
I have great optimism and hope for humanity. But at the level of individual humans, I have no such illusions.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Bitcoin has always been a hype thing, like Beanie Babies or Magic the Gathering cards. Currencies need to have stable known values so they are useful as a means to exchange. Not wildly fluctuating speculation instruments.
If it is centralized and subject to controls similar to SWIFT wires and credit card processing, my continued existence would no longer be feasible.
Forgive me for not believing that in the slightest. Government fugitives have existed for many many years before bitcoin. I think you'd find a way of surviving. Mind you given that you seem to imply your continued existence is entirely dependent on international wire transfers I'm not entirely sure if I should be cheering for you or calling a CIA hotline.
Quite frankly humans have had no problems trading cash for centuries and if you're really having that much of a problem dealing with something other than bitcoin I suggest next time you fill out some bank paperwork and there's a checkbox saying "are you a terrorist" tick no. It'll make it easier.
Hearn's XT and Lighthouse projects failed, so now he's taking his ball and going home. Bitcoin will be just fine, he just wants everyone to believe that he's the sole voice of change in the entire ecosystem, which is a complete laugh.
The ego of this man is so inflated, that he conflates failure in his personal development as a failure of the system at large. This often happens with ego-centric narcissists, where personal responsibility is avoided and put on others. You'll never see Hearn admit that anything he's done is wrong or incorrect, its the entire SYSTEM that is wrong, you see.
I wish Hearn a pleasant journey in his new role - Professional Victim and Drama-Queen. Maybe he can start his own programming language where all errors are blamed on the machine, not the programmer. Lets call it "Hearniate".
Sold my stash a years ago after the big plunge.
You're doing it wrong.
"Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
Their control over wire transfers between all countries with Rothschild banks is complete.
Yea, the minute someone brings up the Illuminati, I largely write them off...
The world is a bit bigger and more complex than you're suggesting. It isn't perfect, but there isn't a group of 10 people sitting around deciding it all.
The human project has been on the verge for close on to sixty million years now.
The entire Africa phase was a close-run affair, and we've been witnessing the longest, slowest improvement in recorded history ever since. Of course, the fatal wings of Armageddon flit past faster now than they once did, almost to where they have blended into a smooth hum.
In modern times, spotting "the" verge is a lot like trying to read posters affixed onto telephone poles while you're zooming past on the highway, except when you're not paying enough attention to the steering wheel causing you to subconsciously veer into the object that fixates your attention—at which point the fine print on the poster becomes momentarily all too clear.
Moral of the story: rubberneck verge spotting is not a good long term survival strategy.