@mhoye
Is this comment really here? Mastodon is giving me weird messages? Perhaps because you're on a different server?

On the topic of your comment, I've always regarded #BitCoin as an obvious scam. No scarcity there. There's an infinite supply of numbers and an infinite supply of algorithms to pretend that some of the numbers are special and more interesting than others.

Or do I need to repeat the proof that there's no such thing as an uninteresting number?

@Cosmic_Ray @mhoye

Doesn't matter what number you divide by infinity, the result is still effectively zero. One or two cryptocurrencies divided by an infinite number of them or 21 million Bitcoins divided by infinity. Still no real value anywhere there.

However what makes #Bitcoin into a special criminal scam is how it deliberately wastes power for the lottery tickets. Electric power is a real thing with a limited supply.

@shanen @Cosmic_Ray @mhoye Bitcoin doesn't "waste" energy. On the contrary, it's specifically the cost of the energy used that makes Bitcoin the first distributed solution to the Byzantine Generals' problem in Computer Science.

You're however absolutely correct in that if noone wants a global uncensorable value transfer network then of course the bitcoin tokens won't have value either.

@mhoye @shanen @Cosmic_Ray I agree that if you don't want an uncensorable global value transfer service then there's no need for a decentralized solution to the Byzantine Generals' problem.

If you do, however, then Bitcoin's Proof of Work is the first such proven to work. The cost of the energy spent (the work) is what makes the transfers uncensorable (cost prohibitive to attack).

@LuigiDev @mhoye @shanen @Cosmic_Ray That was an exaggeration.

https://www.cnbctv18.com/cryptocurrency/bitcoin-gold-traditional-banking-which-uses-most-energy-15117061.htm/amp

@troed @mhoye @shanen @Cosmic_Ray that's like saying that Europe as a continent consumes more energy than the city of New York. Of course it does, it's bigger! The banking sector processes thousands of millions more of transactions that BTC could ever dream of, so if we check absolutes of course fiat consumes more

But if we're fair, we have to check the cost **per transaction**. In which BTC gets obliterated https://www.statista.com/statistics/881541/bitcoin-energy-consumption-transaction-comparison-visa/

@LuigiDev @mhoye @shanen @Cosmic_Ray Those statistics are weird. The Bitcoin energy usage is what secures the base layer - like transporting physical bars of gold around the globe. For millions of transactions per second you use Bitcoin Lightning, a second layer that uses the base layer for security that can scale indefinitely.

So no, the comparison is apt. A Bitcoin financial system uses no more energy than the technology it replaces.

@troed @LuigiDev @shanen @Cosmic_Ray this is absolutely, categorically and obviously false.

Not sure how else to say it. This is a lie.

@mhoye @LuigiDev @shanen @Cosmic_Ray No, it is not.

Please understand that I'm no "crypto bro". My interest in Bitcoin came very early in its existence as I worked in disruptive technologies at Sony Research.

I'm simply stating how it works from a technology standpoint and have no interest in "convincing" or "converting" or whatever people who try to push crypto scams do.

I have a background in cryptography and large scale SaaS. My last full time assignment was heading up global "traditional" fintech SaaS. I know exactly how costly cash transactions (as an example) is in retail, and the size of the industry needed to handle them.