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Comment by seibelj | Hacker News Reader

Bitcoin is one of the most successful open source technologies of all time and the best decentralized network ever created, surpassing BitTorrent. This is a stunning achievement of pure computer science and economic game theory that enables strangers to act only in their self interest to secure and grow the network.

No matter what you think of bitcoin, you must admit this has been successful beyond anyone’s wildest expectations only 12 short years ago. It’s rise and acceptance into the deepest reaches of traditional finance and conservative institutions like BNY Mellon is absurd in its speed and their willingness to accept fundamental change. We are in the midst of a paradigm shift to open financial protocols and huge innovation in capital markets. On to the next decade of crypto!

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I don't see anything successful about it: 1) Absurd levels of electricity consumed 2) Majority of BTC is not used as an asset,or even as currency,but purely as a tool for speculation 3) the surrounding ecosystem is worse than FX world, which is already as bad as it gets 4) No real anonymity either: any meaningful amount needs to be exchanged to Fiat sooner or later. 5) Adoption is still very very low and won't change with such volatility.

Also, financial protocols!= currency.

"it's harmful" and."I don't like it" doesn't make it unsucessful. Cigarettes are wildly successful. Thousands of people, from uninteresting individuals to billionaires and banks, are spending their resources to engage with it.

Define success. Are cigarettes successful for their manufacturers? Yes, absolutely,they are swimming in money. Is it a success to other stakeholders? No, it's not. Bitcoin is a huge success to the speculators riding the wave or early adopters who held it long enough. If smaller groups benefit from it, that doesn't necessarily mean it is universally successful.

This is like arguing the iPhone was not a "success" because walled garden appstores are bad, or because app addiction is bad. Either of those may be true, but the iPhone was still a sucess.

Bitcoin was a daring experiment in game theory, open-source protocol, and human incentives, and is a success by any common-sense measures:

- Adoption of the protocol

- Money devoted to protol

- Human attention given to the project

- Number of computers running it's code

I don’t think it does any of the things you mentioned. It’s a vehicle for speculations and money laundering.

So is every investment vehicle ever.

>>money laundering

It gives people locked out of the global financial system by the warrantless financial mass-surveillance regime, aka the global AML regime, a lifeline:

https://www.coindesk.com/money-reimagined-ugly-side-kyc-aml-...

>>At a 2015 blockchain event, Nairobi-based bitcoin pioneer Elizabeth Rossiello answered an audience question about the impact on Somalians of a recent shutdown in remittance inflows after the U.S. government had labeled the country a “high-risk jurisdiction.” The AZA Group CEO’s answer was blunt: “They starve.”

Remember, under financial-mass-surveillance (AML) laws, you're guilty until proven innocent, and your nationality and residency can be considered as proof of guilt.

It’s been successful in obtaining usage, but I am still confused how it accomplished this beyond a bunch of people asking for it. What problems does Bitcoin solve for these traditional finance institutions that could give us a better barometer of its success?

You'll never get a straight answer. Cryptocurrency fans love huffing their own farts too much to actually give a salient explanation for this.

Proof of work does a good job contributing to increasing problems with global warming and wreaking havoc on the computer hardware market.

There's talk about major cryptocurrencies switching to proof of stake. Good luck on that, because the current powers that be would hate to see their cash cow affected.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. A bunch of early adopters are getting VERY rich because everyone else is FOMOing hardcore. That's never a good reason to buy into this charade.

Our species is so greedy, we will do whatever it takes to fuck everyone else and get ours, I guess. We created a monster. I wish we could own up to it before it's too late.

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