←back to thread

I wasted years of my life in crypto

(twitter.com)
681 points Anon84 | 9 comments | 07 Dec 25 12:57 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source | bottom
Show context
spicyusername ◴[07 Dec 25 13:28 UTC] No.46181533[source]▶
I've never understood the initial arguments about Bitcoin, no matter how many times they've been explained to me.

The block chain is, and always was, an extremely inconvenient database. How anyone, especially many intelligent people, thought it was realistic to graft a currency on top of such a unwieldy piece of technology is beyond me. Maybe it goes to show how few people understand economics and anthropology and how dunning-krueger can happen to anyone.

Now the uninformed gambling on futuristic sounding hokum? THAT is easy to understand.

That being said, I'm sorry the author had to go through this experience, the road of life is often filled with unexpected twists and turns.

replies(48): >>46181550 #>>46181552 #>>46181565 #>>46181570 #>>46181587 #>>46181592 #>>46181595 #>>46181598 #>>46181626 #>>46181627 #>>46181644 #>>46181650 #>>46181665 #>>46181684 #>>46181692 #>>46181705 #>>46181710 #>>46181747 #>>46181851 #>>46182086 #>>46182181 #>>46183207 #>>46183326 #>>46184155 #>>46188845 #>>46188916 #>>46189281 #>>46189390 #>>46189635 #>>46189752 #>>46190184 #>>46190277 #>>46190352 #>>46190438 #>>46190551 #>>46190980 #>>46192357 #>>46192629 #>>46192718 #>>46192829 #>>46193037 #>>46193082 #>>46193531 #>>46193609 #>>46194845 #>>46194934 #>>46195115 #>>46203155 #
phplovesong ◴[08 Dec 25 10:09 UTC] No.46190551[source]▶
Simply put:

Bitcoin was to be an alternative to FIAT, but it ended up being nothing more then a meme-stock that consumes more energy than Poland or Argentina.

Its sad really. But the greed in people turned it into shit.

replies(2): >>46190632 #>>46191091 #
1. l___l ◴[08 Dec 25 11:31 UTC] No.46191091[source]▶
A different metric of comparison isn't Bitcoin's energy consumption compared to other countries but compared to the existing banking system it's trying to replace, which burns more energy than Bitcoin and allegedly burns more energy funding wars with fiat. Mining gold instead of Bitcoin burns more energy than Bitcoin too.

Compared to that for energy consumption, Bitcoin is superior really.

replies(5): >>46191394 #>>46191593 #>>46192326 #>>46194631 #>>46201713 #
2. troupo ◴[08 Dec 25 12:17 UTC] No.46191394[source]▶
The comparison is moot because Bticoin barely functions as a currency. Banking system provides a lot of other functionality beyond just money.
3. jcgl ◴[08 Dec 25 12:46 UTC] No.46191593[source]▶
> compared to the existing banking system it's trying to replace

I don't think it's appropriate to compare it to the existing banking system (whose featureset goes far beyond payments and managing account balances).

It's appropriate to compare it to existing payment and account systems. And on that front, compared to e.g. Mastercard, there's no way Bitcoin is more efficient. TXs/watt, $/watt, however you want to measure it.

replies(1): >>46195272 #
4. phplovesong ◴[08 Dec 25 14:04 UTC] No.46192326[source]▶
I have no numbers but i would assume the global "FIAT market" is orders of magnitude larger than bitcoin, so ofc it consumes more. I would want to se a chart of how much 1USD/EUR "consumes" compared to 1BTC.
5. FabHK ◴[08 Dec 25 16:55 UTC] No.46194631[source]▶
A bitcoin transaction costs around $100 (in invisible money supply increase, paid by everyone that holds Bitcoin, but received by the miners).

There's no way a fiat transfer costs that much.

6. l___l ◴[08 Dec 25 17:43 UTC] No.46195272[source]▶
> there's no way Bitcoin is more efficient

No way? You studied this personally and can prove it?

Transaction Fees On Bitcoin Lightning Network Are 1,000 Times Cheaper Than Visa And MasterCard

https://www.binance.com/en/square/post/447705

replies(2): >>46198507 #>>46203403 #
7. jcgl ◴[08 Dec 25 22:28 UTC] No.46198507{3}[source]▶
Lightning isn't Bitcoin. It's an L2. It helps implement actual practical payments for Bitcoin, and doesn't (afaiu) manage account balances. In other words, you cannot seriously compare it to Mastercard; you've gotta include Bitcoin itself.
replies(1): >>46229288 #
8. phplovesong ◴[09 Dec 25 05:54 UTC] No.46201713[source]▶
You should not compare bitcoin to "the banking industry", but instead to say a stock. Apple is worth more than the entire crypto industry, but for arguments sake lets say they are the same.

So you should instead compare bitcoin to APL stock. How much energy is APL (and APL alone) stock using? This is hard to measure, but probably a fraction of a fraction of the bitcoin energy use.

9. jcgl ◴[09 Dec 25 10:32 UTC] No.46203403{3}[source]▶
Also, it should be obvious that sources from the cryptocurrency industry have a conflict of interest. If there are better sources than something like Binance, then those should be used. If there aren't better sources, well...