Comment by ggreer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by ggreer | Hacker News Reader

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Tweets like those are why Pinboard is one of the few Twitter accounts I've blocked. On certain issues, the author loves to righteously sneer. It annoys the hell out of me because when he's not sneering, he can be a knowledgeable and clear thinker. He's like a glass of wine with a single fly in it.

This behavior isn't just annoying to others; it's harmful to his own goals. If Maciej had hedged his bets and accepted Bitcoin payments for Pinboard in 2013[1], it would most have been the most cost-effective action of his entire life. He would be worth millions more today. He could have used that money to further causes he cares about, such as climate change and social issues.

Instead, he's trying to ban cryptocurrency. We had this same debate with cryptography in the 1990s and DRM removal software in the 2000s. Back then, technically-inclined people agreed that you can't ban math. But now many are trying to do just that. What exactly would a cryptocurrency ban look like? Would calculating lots of SHA-256 hashes cause men with guns to come to your home and put you in a cage? It sounds more absurd than what happened to DVD Jon.[2]

1. https://twitter.com/Pinboard/status/376953671655100416

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Lech_Johansen

> If Maciej had hedged his bets and accepted Bitcoin payments for Pinboard in 2013[1], it would most have been the most cost-effective action of his entire life. He would be worth millions more today.

This argument makes me hate cryptobros even more - people who have an interest in cryptocurrencies have direct financial benefit from talking about how good they are.

> He could have used that money to further causes he cares about, such as climate change and social issues.

Financial benefit from something doesn't make it right or morally acceptable, it only makes you rich.

Let's be clear that if I had accepted Bitcoin payments in 2013, I would have then lost them all a year or two later when my exchange got hacked. That would make me an even more bitter person now.

I can't remember ever calling for a ban on cryptocurrency. If you're remembering something I'm not, then please correct me.

You want the tech world to tell regulators that, "Cryptocurrency is sustained by a mix of money laundering, vaporware, fraud, ransomware, gambling, and delusion. It has no social benefit except helping end first dates fast.", and that cryptocurrency solves no problems and creates new ones.

If regulators agreed with these statements, what do you think they would do? And if you don't want cryptocurrencies banned, how do you want them treated differently from today?

Cold wallets solve this issue. Exchanges should be used for exchanging assets, it's not wise to store larger amounts there.

Let me know if you want a hand in setting up a private key on a normal computer

Which is also a great way to lose money.

You seem like a very smart and highly technical person so I find it incredibly hard to believe you would have left vast sums of crypto on an unregulated exchange.

You're either being dishonest here or you consider yourself extremely naive.

I seriously considered acceptiong bitcoin payments (it was a fad, why not) but did not want to connect something like Mt. Gox to my bank account. That was the stumbling block for me.

It did not occur to me at the time that I should hoard these payments until they were worth millions in 2021; back then we were still thinking of cryptocurrency in terms of something you'd get paid in and convert to a bank balance.

If you were cashing out as the money was coming in, then you wouldn't have lost all of it in a "hack", would you?

So, which is it? Would you have lost all of it in a hack or would you be withdrawing straight to a bank balance because you abhor "hoarding"? It can't be both.

I like the way you scarequote 'hack' as if the MtGox hack was made up FUD[1]. And the way you change "I didn't think of keeping it" to "you abhor hoarding". If he didn't lose it all in said hack because he was selling it back for US dollars as it came in, then he wouldn't have got fabulously wealthy from holding it; in that case why should he have accepted Bitcoin if it was only a less convenient, more effortful, more risky way to get ordinary amounts of money?

It can't be that the only reason for Pinboard to accept Bitcoin in 2013 was to get rich quick, and it's not a get rich quick scam, it can't be both at the same time?

It's like the problem where every time travel dicussion has turned from Morks and Eloi, becoming your own grandpa, treading on a butterfly in the Jurassic period and altering all history to "I'd buy Apple shares" "I'd buy Bitcoin" "I'd tell my parents to buy Apple shares" "I'd buy crypto" "I'd buy crypto" "I'd buy crypto".

[1] https://blockonomi.com/mt-gox-hack/

It would have been up to the grand wizards at the Magic the Gathering Online Exchange. I don't remember what the process was back then for converting bitcoin into real money, and if they offered ACH transfers or what.

What regulated exchange existed in 2013?

The solution to the problem of not storing crypto on unregulated exchanges is not a regulated exchange. The solution is your own wallet/private key.

That has caused many problems in reality. I feel more confident with Kraken having the keys than me personally.

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