nelsontodd

I dont know about practicality but Ive read a good amount of SICP and find it very entertaining

I don't really know either. Maybe you're right, but as a (maybe ridiculous) counterpoint, what benefit does it give a government to have their own currency? I think the main benefit is not having to rely on another government to keep it stable... or to avoid the subservience that follows from having to rely on acquiring said currency from another government. For most countries now practically I think this means 'not giving the US complete control over our politics and not having to buy USD from them'.

Are there any other benefits? If not, wouldn't adopting bitcoin be an easy solution to monetary policy while avoiding this issue? Or am I missing something?

It's a big risk. But, to answer your second question, its a public ledger. Its significantly more conducive to surveillance than cash. Just punish people if they send money to an unverified address.

I think that's a gross possibility, and I hope no governments take this measure, but I don't think it would be difficult.

I conceded the point that he hasn't looked into it with 'fair enough' lol. Regardless, informed is relative. I don't think Bill Gates knows more on bitcoin than I do. His status as an authority figure is uninteresting, because we can find many authority figures that disagree with him.

I doubt they would just roll over yeah. If you consider the dollar as a weapon/tool for US hegemony, bitcoin functions as almost like a terrorist entity. Not clear what to do with this information

Yeah but good luck convincing people to move next to sources of energy so cheap it would be wasted otherwise (rural west texas, rural china). If bitcoin becomes the dominant global financial system, securing it will be a worthy use of energy.

Fair enough. But for every bill gates we can find a mark cuban, michael saylor etc who are extremely excited about bitcoin. So I still think it is uninteresting.

Maybe true depending on the energy source. I've heard it argued also that bitcoin will become the 'purchaser of last resort' for energy. For example, fracking companies often just burn off natural gas they find while looking for oil... instead, this gas could be used to mine btc. Also well documented that a lot of bitcoin operations in china are fueled by hydroelectric sources.

The promise of violence is free until realized though.

'You get a choice between bitcoin mining and military force' to solve the consensus issue.

Bitcoin doesn't solve, for example, hate crimes or something like this.

This has yet to be shown.

You forget about the violent invasions that allowed the USD to maintain its value while you were paying for groceries lol

Just because he's a billionaire doesn't mean he has the time or interest to deep dive into all emerging technologies, or possible tech bubbles

I don't want to hash them out, plenty of arguments from the leftists or linux people for example. Free software, exploitation of workers. Whatever. The argument itself is arbitrary, I'm just saying that he's a controversial figure

I don't think it will eliminate the need for the military or police force entirely. I have seen a lot of bold bitcoin claims but I don't think anyone really does.

My post was referring to how the US has killed lots of people to keep strong dollar. I think its feasible that a true global currency (possibly bitcoin) could prevent violence like this.

His status as rich tech billionaire doesn't make a difference unless he is making arguments that are new or interesting. And he isn't. We've all been hearing the environment argument for years now.

Plus, there is obviously an argument to be made that he has had a negative overall influence on the world & therefore shouldn't be trusted.

With bitcoin, you are paying for security. I know if I send you a bitcoin transaction there is a high probability it won't be reverted in our lifetime, possibly ever. I'm not a maxi but these new projects don't have that guarantee yet; likely they never will.

This is silly. Consensus (probably, I am doubtful of PoS) isn't free. You get a choice between bitcoin mining and military force. Which do you find less harmful?

Edit: I should clarify. I am saying that the status of the USD as a reserve currency has led to lots of US military action.

Why is 'rich billionaire has uninformed or possibly self interested opinions' newsworthy

Well i’d say the inability to understand probability is a harmful trait but you’re clearly still here and might even have kids. And everyone with asthma, type 1 diabetes, and a tiny dick would like a word with you. Idiot