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Comment by serf | Hacker News Reader

>I mean, isn’t this exactly the behaviour we want to encourage?

I want to encourage 'corporate flexibility and social accountability'.

I do not want to encourage market-whale-individuals to attempt one-person pump-and-dumps on small(ish) global markets and further market opportunism & manipulation.

Personally I believe that the decision has little to do with environmental impact; I think that the btc opportunity is beginning to dwindle in various ways, so the focus shifts to other *coin markets where they can profit similarly using the same or similar tactics.

BTC specifically is made out to be the boogeyman so that the excuse doesn't disallow similar behavior with other coins in the future. I fully expect similar reasoning with DogeCoin when that opportunity dries up and they move to greener pastures for the third time -- inevitably when profit margins are greater elsewhere.

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All crypto I know about is useful !only! for market speculation.

Bitcoin is especially broken and useless for anything. Unless you want to pay 100$ transaction cost to by ice-cream at grocery store.

BTC maximalists argue that it’s a better store of value than gold due to portability, divisibility, durability, and scarcity. The theory is that it will be used to settle inter-bank transactions once it is widely adopted by institutions.

>The theory is that it will be used to settle inter-bank transactions once it is widely adopted by institutions.

Banks have absolutely not need of a proof of work scheme like Bitcoin, them switching to a system with the power requirements of BTC seems highly unlikely.

I use crypto (and mainly Bitcoin) to pay for three years every month now. Average fee over those years is more like $1. In comparison with $20 transaction fees my bank asks when I transact for example from EU to SouthAm, zero hassle and no paperwork when sending to countries with trade embargo, I must say, Bitcoin is golden.

How much are the fees for converting to Bitcoin, the recipient converting from Bitcoin, and the transaction costs? TransferWise is quoting me an effective all-in price[0] of £1.98 to send someone in Brazil £100 of my hard-earned Sterling. I’m struggling to believe you’re getting Bitcoin in or out of fiat for less than 2-5% a go, and transaction cost is ~$15, so ballpark this is costing $25?

0: £100 -> 729.83, where Google says it “should” be 744.61;

So it depends. For example in Argentina, they AFAIK have two conversion rates. When you use a normal bank account, you have to use government conversion rate that's 50% of black market rate between Argentinian pesos and USDs. With Bitcoin, you could try black market straight away and even if you pay 2-5%, you might end up better.

For transaction rate, Trezor says at 22sat/B., you will have your transaction confirmed in 4 hours 10 minutes for $1.85.

Even if BTC price was stable, I would still use it. But my experience is that having some BTC is usually better than just having cash.

I use Western Union and for the last 2 years it's said there's 0 transfer fee's. It's basically the same exchange rate as the bank so i don't think they skim off the top and if they do it would end up being like 50 cents in difference to the bank. ( i have no idea how WU makes money)

You may be benefiting from some kind of a special deal or a promotion, but overall their fees are very high

https://www.westernunion.com/content/dam/wu/EU/EN/feeTableRe...

Like sometimes two digit percentage high.

Drugs.

How many do you know? Tezos looks good to me, especially in the context of hic et nunc art market.

"small(ish)" a trillion USD (+/-) is not exactly small

As of today, we know about 3.87% of the 56 billion outstanding Tethers that help define that market cap are backed by cash. During the big dump to 46K a day ago, Coinbase' bid-ask spread went to $1000-2500 depending on when you looked. That's a serious lack of liquidity. While a "trillion" is not small, its a completely illusory number.

> I do not want to encourage market-whale-individuals to attempt one-person pump-and-dumps on small(ish) global markets and further market opportunism & manipulation.

Eh, no innocent by-standers get hurt when someone 'dumps-and-pumps' bitcoin.

And if you want to teach people a lesson, the higher the profile of the 'pumper-and-dumper', the better.

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