• iii@mander.xyz
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    18 days ago

    When crypto is more stable than your national currency, your government has a … problem?

    • aiccount@monyet.cc
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      18 days ago

      There isn’t a government run currency on the planet that has come anywhere remotely close to performing as good as bitcoin in the last decade. Give me something that goes up in value over something that only “slowly” falls in value like the EU or USD.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        18 days ago

        Which proves that Bitcoin isn’t really currency, it’s an investment opportunity.

        You can trade stocks and bonds as “currency” too.

        • aiccount@monyet.cc
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          18 days ago

          Believe it or not, it can be and is used as both. If you have any other questions or things you think won’t work, just ask! A lot has happened in the last 5 years, and most issues people have with Bitcoin have been long ago solved. It is incredible how much different things are now, lots of old issues(like dealing with 0.0000015 issues) are no longer a problem.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            17 days ago

            How is that no longer a problem? Have most humans somehow easily learned calculate numbers to that many decimal places in the last five years? Because I still find it difficult.

            Also, Bitcoin is way, way too volatile to be used as a currency in any stable economy. A can of Coke could cost twice next week as it did this week.

            • aiccount@monyet.cc
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              16 days ago

              The people who use bitcoin think in Satoshi now. There are many wallets and exchanges that allow you to denominated in sotishis. mBTC is another common denomination that people use and think in.

              It is true that bitcoin is starting out volatile, but it is still so early when you consider how long major currencies usually last. Things should settle down more and more as it becomes a larger and larger percentage of the economy. I bet gold probably started out pretty volatile, considering some people knew to value it and others didn’t.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                16 days ago

                “We have two completely different terms that mean two completely different things to break up our confusing money into smaller pieces” is not the sales point you think it is.

                Also- LOL!

                I bet gold probably started out pretty volatile, considering some people knew to value it and others didn’t.

                How much would you like to bet? I’ll take some of those bitcoins off your hand. First, though, you’ll have to explain how to calculate volatility in a barter system that predates things like written language. Gold was bartered in the paleolithic, just like flint and antlers, and money didn’t exist until tens of thousands of years later.

      • cheese_greater@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Bitcoin isnt really great for actual regular exchange and transactions tho, isnt that true? Like if everyone started using it at the scale of regular currency’s daily usage, would it actually rise to those demands?

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          18 days ago

          The price of a can of cola would constantly fluctuate.

          Also, $1 in Bitcoin is 0.000015, which is the sort of number we would have to be thinking of in order to do day-to-day transactions.

          • aiccount@monyet.cc
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            18 days ago

            People already think in Satoshis. It has been this way for many, many years.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              17 days ago

              “People” being those of you who invest in Bitcoins (and then talk about how it’s a viable currency, not an investment opportunity, while also talking about how it keeps gaining in value).

              I sure as hell don’t think in “Satoshis.” I’ve never even heard that term before.

              I would bet you that, on average, if you asked 10 people what a ‘Satoshi’ is, they’d say they had no idea. A lot of them would probably guess something Japanese.

              And I was told over a decade ago that everyone would be using Bitcoin by now.

              • aiccount@monyet.cc
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                16 days ago

                It is steadily growing over time. There were people who ridiculed it and said nobody would ever want it, and it would never be worth a dollar.

                It makes sense that you didn’t know what a Satoshi is. In fact, you may still not know what it is. There are 100 million satoshis in one bitcoin, so one satoshi is 0.00000001 BTC.

                Yeah, there have been lots of predictions for bitcoin and people trying to guess specific time periods. I don’t get into all that.

                I just think it is badass to be able to hold value in something that nobody can counterfeit, I can instantly and privately transfer it. I can use it on amazon, Walmart, airbnb, Expedia, and a bunch of other places. I can carry it on my phone with me and protect it even from physical phone thieves. and on top of being totally awesome, it has steadily gone up in value as more and more people all over the world realize how cool it is. It is like an awesome game of spoons where we all end up winners because we all have a much more convenient form of money.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                  16 days ago

                  It is steadily growing over time. There were people who ridiculed it and said nobody would ever want it, and it would never be worth a dollar.

                  Yes, that is what an investment opportunity is. Not a currency. That is my point.

                  There are 100 million satoshis in one bitcoin, so one satoshi is 0.00000001 BTC.

                  Cool. Still confusing as fuck math.

                  I can carry it on my phone with me and protect it even from physical phone thieves.

                  Yes, you’re definitely protected from thieves. No one could ever possibly do anything like just get them from you by saying they’ll kill you if you don’t give it to them.

                  https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/twelve-defendants-sentenced-violent-home-invasion-robberies-steal-cryptocurrency

                  and on top of being totally awesome, it has steadily gone up in value as more and more people all over the world realize how cool it is.

                  Yes. That’s called an investment opportunity.

                  we all have a much more convenient form of money.

                  No, a more convenient form of money can be accepted anywhere from the smallest business to the largest corporation, doesn’t constantly change value, and is replaced by a federal government if your bank account gets cleaned out.

                  Also, a more convenient form of money can easily be divided up without necessary math to figure out its value in 100 millionths.

                  You’re talking about a less convenient form of money.

                  But I’m glad your investment opportunity is paying off for you.

        • aiccount@monyet.cc
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          18 days ago

          The lightning network on bitcoin is where most people should be transacting with bitcoin. It won’t fill up with any number of users, transactions are instant(less than a second), and very cheap(even when bitcoin fees are high). Nearly everyone who talks confidently about how bitcoin can’t scale is unaware of lightning and other developments over the last 5 years.

        • shaserlark@sh.itjust.works
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          17 days ago

          Tbh the fees are really low, e.g. if you send 5k dollars fees can be something like 50 cents max. It fluctuates but it’s really cheap and much faster than wire transfers, it works 24/7, it’s not that bad. The volatility can be annoying because then what you save in fees you might just lose it during the time you send the funds but there are other currencies like Monero that aren’t as volatile.

      • boonhet@lemm.ee
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        16 days ago

        The problem is that if I have bitcoin, I can’t fucking spending it as currency, now can I? I’ll hate myself tomorrow when it’s gone up 2x.

        So if everyone has bitcoin, everyone HODLs, no currency changes hands and the economy just dies because nobody buys or sells anything.

        The minor inflation in EUR or USD accomplishes the exact opposite: Money keeps changing hands. The rich, obviously, want to keep everything they have. But oh look, if you just hoard it, it keeps slowly losing value over time! Now these rich assholes (along with anyone else who has significant savings) have to invest their money if they want it to keep value or even appreciate in value - and when it’s invested, that means someone else can actually do something with the money.

          • aiccount@monyet.cc
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            15 days ago

            It is hilarious that this was removed. Anyone can see what i wrote by replying to the comment. Please mods, explain what rule i broke.

          • boonhet@lemm.ee
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            16 days ago

            And who’s going to buy anything for this local currency if it starts appreciating? It’ll be the death of economy.

            • aiccount@monyet.cc
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              16 days ago

              Lots of people spend currencies that go up in value. Believe it or not, people sometimes want stuff now instead of the possibility of stuff later.