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If your country's money and banking works for you I don't think I can explain to you why bitcoin is useful, you simply have no use for it. That your peers prima

If your country's money and banking works for you I don't think I can explain to you why bitcoin is useful, you simply have no use for it. That your peers primarily use it for speculation says more about them than about bitcoin.

patmcc 3y ago
Give me a ballpark for the relative market share of "bitcoin as speculation" vs "bitcoin as currency". I'd estimate it as...oh...98% speculation, and I think I'm being generous.
- RestlessMind 3y ago
  What is your estimate about Gold? I say Bitcoin and Gold serve roughly the same purpose.
  - patmcc 3y ago
    Looks like gold mined gets diverted to: 47% investment and central1 banks 45% jewellery 7% tech/industrial applications See https://www.statista.com/statistics/299609/gold-demand-by-industry-sector-share/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/299609/gold-demand-by-in... and https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/minerals-metals-facts/gold-facts/20514 https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/mi... - don't exactly agree, but close. (and, importantly, it doesn't require terawatt-hours to maintain gold once you've mined it).
    - RestlessMind 3y ago
      So basically, 92% of gold is purely due to social conditioning and invented belief. > (and, importantly, it doesn't require terawatt-hours to maintain gold once you've mined it). I am pretty sure collective security spent on gold worldwide exceeds terawatt hours once you account for all the physical security as well.
manuelabeledo 3y ago
I would like to hear more about those use cases. Because I cannot fathom a system where either currency or banking does not work, and the preferable alternative is to rely on a highly volatile asset that requires vast amounts of energy and time to work. > That your peers primarily use it for speculation says more about them than about bitcoin. We are not in 2011 anymore. Bitcoin did not become a widespread vehicle for commercial transactions. Countries with defenestrated economies did not find an alternative in Bitcoin. Instead, we have whales, among them large banks and corporations, controlling over a third of the market, and most transactions are made in exchanges with arbitrage or speculation purposes. Suffice to say, I don't consider JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs my "peers".
- RestlessMind 3y ago
  > I would like to hear more about those use cases. Here you go, I have compiled some examples for you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32406095 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32406095 > Because I cannot fathom a system where either currency or banking does not work, and the preferable alternative is to rely on a highly volatile asset that requires vast amounts of energy and time to work. May I ask you where you were born and raised? A lot of people do actually have to face shitty systems where Bitcoin is a godsend.
  - acaloiar 3y ago
    When that list reaches the length of https://web3isgoinggreat.com/web1 https://web3isgoinggreat.com/web1, a great point will have been made.
    - nkuttler 3y ago
      Bitcoin has absolutely nothing to do with web3, so you provided an empty list.
    - RestlessMind 3y ago
      https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/ https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/ is already a great counter-list to your list. Btw, lumping Bitcoin with web3 is as pointless as lumping penny stocks with AAPL or BRK.A.

patmcc 3y ago

Give me a ballpark for the relative market share of "bitcoin as speculation" vs "bitcoin as currency". I'd estimate it as...oh...98% speculation, and I think I'm being generous.

RestlessMind 3y ago
What is your estimate about Gold? I say Bitcoin and Gold serve roughly the same purpose.
- patmcc 3y ago
  Looks like gold mined gets diverted to: 47% investment and central1 banks 45% jewellery 7% tech/industrial applications See https://www.statista.com/statistics/299609/gold-demand-by-industry-sector-share/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/299609/gold-demand-by-in... and https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/minerals-mining/minerals-metals-facts/gold-facts/20514 https://natural-resources.canada.ca/our-natural-resources/mi... - don't exactly agree, but close. (and, importantly, it doesn't require terawatt-hours to maintain gold once you've mined it).
  - RestlessMind 3y ago
    So basically, 92% of gold is purely due to social conditioning and invented belief. > (and, importantly, it doesn't require terawatt-hours to maintain gold once you've mined it). I am pretty sure collective security spent on gold worldwide exceeds terawatt hours once you account for all the physical security as well.

manuelabeledo 3y ago

I would like to hear more about those use cases. Because I cannot fathom a system where either currency or banking does not work, and the preferable alternative is to rely on a highly volatile asset that requires vast amounts of energy and time to work. > That your peers primarily use it for speculation says more about them than about bitcoin. We are not in 2011 anymore. Bitcoin did not become a widespread vehicle for commercial transactions. Countries with defenestrated economies did not find an alternative in Bitcoin. Instead, we have whales, among them large banks and corporations, controlling over a third of the market, and most transactions are made in exchanges with arbitrage or speculation purposes. Suffice to say, I don't consider JPMorgan or Goldman Sachs my "peers".

RestlessMind 3y ago
> I would like to hear more about those use cases. Here you go, I have compiled some examples for you: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32406095 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32406095 > Because I cannot fathom a system where either currency or banking does not work, and the preferable alternative is to rely on a highly volatile asset that requires vast amounts of energy and time to work. May I ask you where you were born and raised? A lot of people do actually have to face shitty systems where Bitcoin is a godsend.
- acaloiar 3y ago
  When that list reaches the length of https://web3isgoinggreat.com/web1 https://web3isgoinggreat.com/web1, a great point will have been made.
  - nkuttler 3y ago
    Bitcoin has absolutely nothing to do with web3, so you provided an empty list.
  - RestlessMind 3y ago
    https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/ https://99bitcoins.com/bitcoin-obituaries/ is already a great counter-list to your list. Btw, lumping Bitcoin with web3 is as pointless as lumping penny stocks with AAPL or BRK.A.