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urda · 2015-09-30 17:04:25+00:00

> I'm surprised he's using Bitcoin, since bitcoin is a ponzi.

Let's keep the discussion to actual facts please.

rualca | karma 646 | avg karma 0.64 · | 2020-12-31 23:18:27

> I use Bitcoin where ever possible, so your opening claim is wrong.

Just because a random guy barters bitcoins for goods/services, that by no means implies that bitcoin is anything close to money.

There is a very specific definition of what money is, and bitcoin's volatility alone rules it completely out.

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solveit | karma 3130 | avg karma 2.99 · | 2019-03-15 07:59:52+00:00

> Some people shouldn't be handling hundreds of millions of USD.

Yes, but deterrents don't work if you don't expect to handle hundreds of millions. And I don't believe he did expect to handle hundreds of millions. Nobody did. Bitcoin just... did that.

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mohanmcgeek | karma 1181 | avg karma 2.73 · | 2022-01-10 09:20:33

> the protocol itself is not the Ponzi

Isn't that what my original comment was?

Aside from that, Bitcoin is still a flawed model stemming from an incorrect understanding of money _whether you agree or not_

That it's _only_ used to run ponzi schemes is a problem on top of that.

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stupidhn | karma 105 | avg karma 0.85 · | 2017-05-09 22:49:20+00:00

>Can someone explain to me why Bitcoin is compared to a Ponzi scam so often.

The early adopters are paid profits based on new "clients" incoming funds, who then sell to even newer "clients". A ponzi relies on the greater fool.

I doubt Bitcoin is a Ponzi, but of all the things people call a Ponzi scheme nowadays, it's a reasonable analogy.

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gnaritas | karma 6282 | avg karma 1.48 · | 2016-06-21 22:49:04

> There are so many ponzi schemes in Bitcoin many of them actually advertise that they are ponzi schemes.

I think you misinterpreted what I'm saying. Of course people run schemes using bitcoin just as they run schemes using USD; when I said "no fraud in bitcoin", I mean in bitcoin itself, the blockchain, the protocol, the currency. Bitcoin is a currency, and like any currency, fraudsters can and will use it, that doesn't make bitcoin fraudulent.

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kordless | karma 4030 | avg karma 1.55 · | 2015-05-20 16:12:22

> It's debateable whether or not Bitcoin is empty dreams, outright fraud, or an actual currency.

It's also debatable if you've stopped beating your wife or are in a loving marriage with her. Hopefully you see what we both did there.

Context: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu_%28negative%29

Personally, I don't consider Bitcoin a currency. It's more than that.

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bobcallme | karma 227 | avg karma 2.47 · | 2017-11-28 20:08:20

> Bitcoin is not even good for transactions, its supposed primary purpose, right now.

How so? I buy lunch with Bitcoin and a few weeks ago I paid for a car repair with it. If I need more, I just go to a bitcoin vending machine near by.

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olah_1 | karma 1586 | avg karma 1.91 · | 2021-02-08 16:31:27+00:00

> what do you think bitcoin is used for?

Storing value. Smart ass answer, I know. But it's true.

As a private currency, Bitcoin is like a screen door. So I don't know why you'd use it for illegal activities.

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leto_ii | karma 2150 | avg karma 3.51 · | 2021-07-07 14:32:42+00:00

> Bitcoin is a scam.

You're really tempting fate twice here :))

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tablespoon | karma 11990 | avg karma 2.97 · | 2022-05-11 13:26:46

> what makes you say that? I use bitcoin to conduct private transactions regularly and its pretty darn solid for that purpose. Doing such a transaction over the internet, before bitcoin, required you to use permissioned rails.

Just because it can be used like that doesn't mean it actually succeeded. The vast majority of Bitcoin is held as a speculative investment, and the deflationary aspects are a strong disincentive to regular circulation.

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TylerE | karma 18504 | avg karma 2.4 · | 2016-06-22 02:12:07+00:00

> There is no fraud in bitcoin, no phony investment with lying and paying out returns from later investor money.

Say what?

There are so many ponzi schemes in Bitcoin many of them actually advertise that they are ponzi schemes.

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nobody9999 | karma 4508 | avg karma 1.76 · | 2022-05-23 08:58:24

>The fact that it's all useless.

But Bitcoin is definitely not useless. I can use it to buy drugs, guns, child porn and other important commodities.

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danans | karma 10544 | avg karma 2.7 · | 2019-12-27 01:18:10+00:00

> Why would he give away bitcoin just to promote Bitcoin?

Why not? The donation drove a lot of awareness of Bitcoin in a context - charity - that few people would criticize.

> Are you suggesting he had an even larger sum of Bitcoin hidden somewhere?

I presume he does. I doubt his donations impoverished him, but it's irrelevant to the argument.

> Or he just wanted to promote Bitcoin at a personal cost?

Again, sure, why not?

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wiseowise | karma 2953 | avg karma 1.52 · | 2022-06-19 01:57:01

> Do you think the world could benefit from money that can't be manipulated by governments?

Maybe, but that's not Bitcoin for sure.

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sunshinerag | karma 221 | avg karma 0.78 · | 2021-01-01 16:55:27+00:00

>> Bitcoin, or any cryptocurrency, is nothing of the sort. Far from it.

For some random guys on the internet. yes. Some other guys are using it without waiting for it to be everything the previous system had. (deferred payments etc.).

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ForHackernews | karma 13152 | avg karma 2.54 · | 2017-07-23 20:24:02+00:00

> Bitcoin seems like technically great

Does it? It seems horrendously, even criminally, inefficient to me.

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Kbelicius | karma 964 | avg karma 1.53 · | 2022-01-15 12:52:00

> I just named a rather massive one in my comment.

You named one that was envisioned by the creator(s) of Bitcoins 13 years ago and was subsequently abandoned. Today bitcoin is marketed as a store of value, not money. Also the idea that it is a P2P money without intermediaries is laughable. What are miners other than intermediaries in a transaction?

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darpa_escapee | karma 1683 | avg karma 1.96 · | 2018-03-29 15:48:21+00:00

> You know of another way to transfer massive amounts of money around the globe without middle men

No, because I have to go through various middlemen to transfer Bitcoin and turn them into real money.

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rvz | karma 7775 | avg karma 1.08 · | 2022-04-11 08:17:10

> I feel like the person you are replying to is going to take this discussion into the direction of bitcoin cash being the real bitcoin.

I could not care less about attempting to 'use' a cryptocurrency that is slower than VISA and as extremely volatile for merchants to use to accept payments with and is useless as 'digital gold'.

Just ask El Salvador.

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