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Comment by soulofmischief | Hacker News Reader

You're confusing a particular (naive, original) implementation of cryptocurrency with the general concept of cryptocurrency. Proof of work != cryptocurrency, and speculative markets again are entirely divorced from its foundations. So are ideas such as transactional obfuscation (an exercise left to the reader in the original Bitcoin whitepaper). All of these are implementation details of a broader class of software ecosystems known as cryptocurrency.

You seem like a reasonable person and if you take the time to understand what is taking place then you would see this as the transitional period that it is, understand the problems being solved, and know how to spot the bullshit from the real. Otherwise, you might become the digital equivalent of a senior who refuses to use a credit card over cash.

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> You're confusing a particular (naive, original) implementation of cryptocurrency with the general concept of cryptocurrency.

If that is the case they why does the floor value of bitcoin track to the cost of the energy it takes to mint? Value above the floor is 100% speculative as it is value assigned by investors who buy into it.

> You seem like a reasonable person and if you take the time to understand what is taking place then you would see this as the transitional period that it is, understand the problems being solved, and know how to spot the bullshit from the real. Otherwise, you might become the digital equivalent of a senior who refuses to use a credit card over cash.

I would rather give up all technology, sell all my worldly possessions and donate it to charity, and then become a luddite and move to an Amish community before I live in a world dominated by the current iterations of digital currency.

> If that is the case they why does the floor value of bitcoin track to the cost of the energy it takes to mint? Value above the floor is 100% speculative as it is value assigned by investors who buy into it.

The price is discovered through exchange and commerce. Money is similarly speculative, however price discovery works much differently. Even still, I can point out several paper currencies which in very recent times have completely plummeted in value. What does any of this have to do with proof of work?

> I would rather give up all technology, sell all my worldly possessions and donate it to charity, and then become a luddite and move to an Amish community before I live in a world dominated by the current iterations of digital currency.

This seems like moving goalposts, given that my original position was that you should divorce the current state of cryptocurrency from the idea of cryptocurrency itself.

It's like getting mad at the first engines because they were highly inefficient, and writing off all engines, from steam to ICE to electric, because of a failure to understand the design goals of the system, or the inherently wasteful prototyping process.

> This seems like moving goalposts, given that my original position was that you should divorce the current state of cryptocurrency from the idea of cryptocurrency itself.

Let me be clear on one point, I don't have a problem with digital currency. I do have a problem with cryptocurrency.

On what basis?

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