I like to compare the Bitcoin price chart to the stats on a roulette wheel. You can't really predict what causes it to go one way or the other, but you do know that it will eventually go back.
I mean, Bitcoin is the one thing that just won't die. Every time its price collapses, people declare it dead, but a few years later it somehow comes roaring back. If you think Bitcoin is worthless just because it has no utility and no person smarter than a chimpanzee would invest in it, by God you are overestimating the intelligence of finance and crypto bros.
No, btc is still often used for transactions between buyers and sellers before it gets converted into monero, and most exhanges don't sell monero so people usually buy btc and have it converted at a different site if they want to purchase with monero directly.
You actually can, because it behaves in 4 year cycles. Bitcoin ATH have been in August 2017, 2021 and 2025, and dips have been in December 2018, 2022 and 2026. This why people are selling right now, everyone knows this which makes it self-fulfilling
Yeah, it being built upon a decentralized multiple transaction-ledger means that no singular nation's treasury has control over its value. It's also actually great for law enforcement because removing a transaction from the history is incredibly difficult, places that offer "private" transactions just create thousands of fake transactions to hide the real one inside, but the evidence still exists.
One of the largest BTC owners on earth is the USA's FBI who have confiscated tons of the stuff used in illegal activity.
EDIT: Noteworthy is that BTC is far from the most efficient tool for this exact use case. Not all blockchains are equal in power consumption for example, Ethereum apparently uses far less per transaction.
On Ethereum using less: this is due to a different consensus mechanism involved, one that is more eco-friendly, but less distributed and inherently (mathematically) less secure.
Generally, it should be fine on the scale of Ethereum, but Bitcoin has it safer, at the cost of plenty of power and e-waste.
Not sure what angle this is coming from, but about 10k validators are needed to secure Ethereum. In BTC all it takes is for Antpool and Foundry to team up and you are above the 51% threshold.
That same 51% attack can occur on Proof-of-Stake, except you could immediately rewrite anything and also rob legitimate nodes of their stake, for all I understand.
Momentary 51% of Proof-of-Work merely makes it possible to extremely slowly rewrite the neighboring blocks. As most Bitcoin transactions require many "confirmations" (blocks coming after the one with the transaction), the attack realistically needs a very big scale (ideally significantly more than 51%, it's just theoretical minimum), rely on serious level of luck and, through the open ledger, it will be extremely easy to detect.
Absolutely not the best. just the best adoption rate due to being first. Also because buying any other crypto usually involves step 1: buy bitcoin and step 2: trade for whatevercoin.
I thought the gorilla was actually a dog-man without a head, and the gorilla arms were ears attached directly to the neck, and the gorilla legs are arms, and instead of being on the table, the headless dogman was taking a selfie from above the OR, and while wearing corded earphones.
Eh, both have their utility, just not whatever crypto bros made of it.
I use crypto to pay for things abroad, like a decent VPN, from a heavily sanctioned authoritarian shithole. And NFTs can be useful not as a speculative asset, but as a blockchain-verified decentralized token. In this capacity, both are still completely relevant.
Everyone seems to forget that the magic beans in Jack and the Beanstalk worked. They did exactly what they were supposed to do, and not really a bad purchase at all given the shit he went on to loot from that giant
65 Comments
NateNate60@lemmy.world · 63 pts · 55d
I like to compare the Bitcoin price chart to the stats on a roulette wheel. You can't really predict what causes it to go one way or the other, but you do know that it will eventually go back.
I mean, Bitcoin is the one thing that just won't die. Every time its price collapses, people declare it dead, but a few years later it somehow comes roaring back. If you think Bitcoin is worthless just because it has no utility and no person smarter than a chimpanzee would invest in it, by God you are overestimating the intelligence of finance and crypto bros.
Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca · 33 pts · 55d
Because it is nothing more than gambling.
Homo_Erectus@lemmy.zip · 20 pts · 55d
And money laundry
NateNate60@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 55d
and sanctions evasion
NateNate60@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 55d
Thank you for repeating the same thing that I said
Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca · 13 pts · 55d
Think of it as an executive summary.
boboliosisjones@feddit.nu · 12 pts · 54d
I think the reason has little to do with investors and more to do the bitcoin being the backbone of the online black market.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 54d
The online black market shifted to monero ever since the "Dreaded Pirate Roberts" was identified and arrested via his bitcoin accounts.
Dodgy people may hold bitcoin, but the don't use it for illicit transactions.
welfare_wizard@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 54d
No, btc is still often used for transactions between buyers and sellers before it gets converted into monero, and most exhanges don't sell monero so people usually buy btc and have it converted at a different site if they want to purchase with monero directly.
boboliosisjones@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 54d
That may be true for a few markeplaces, but zero of the ones I have seen. All BTC.
Mubelotix@jlai.lu · 7 pts · 54d
You actually can, because it behaves in 4 year cycles. Bitcoin ATH have been in August 2017, 2021 and 2025, and dips have been in December 2018, 2022 and 2026. This why people are selling right now, everyone knows this which makes it self-fulfilling
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 54d
You're acting like you could predict this year based on 2 data points.
Mubelotix@jlai.lu · 1 pts · 54d
This is a text message. Look at charts if you want data. I agree it's not a guarantee though
boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 54d
Why 4 though? How do we know it'll repeat?
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 54d
That's how often the block rewards halve, reducing the supply of new coins creating a predictable price increase.
PacMan@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 55d
Sell off right now for the Space-X IPO will bounce back in a few months
NateNate60@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 55d
Old investing adage: The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.
OriginEnergySux@lemmy.world · 34 pts · 55d
Me watching my lithium stocks get fucking smashed at the moment
Allero@lemmy.today · 10 pts · 54d
Yay cheaper lithium
janewaydidnothingwrong@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 55d
Why are the electrodes attached to his nipples 🤔
Homo_Erectus@lemmy.zip · 26 pts · 55d
To measure his nippleness
SolacefromSilence@fedia.io · 8 pts · 55d
Are you a Stanford scientist?
Homo_Erectus@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 55d
No. I stand-for sciencist
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 55d
Where would you put them monkey genius?
janewaydidnothingwrong@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 55d
my ignorance is exposed 😖
MeatPilot@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 55d
Because he's in to that shit.
imperious_melange@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 55d
FiniteBanjo@feddit.online · 6 pts · 55d
Yeah, it being built upon a decentralized multiple transaction-ledger means that no singular nation's treasury has control over its value. It's also actually great for law enforcement because removing a transaction from the history is incredibly difficult, places that offer "private" transactions just create thousands of fake transactions to hide the real one inside, but the evidence still exists.
One of the largest BTC owners on earth is the USA's FBI who have confiscated tons of the stuff used in illegal activity.
EDIT: Noteworthy is that BTC is far from the most efficient tool for this exact use case. Not all blockchains are equal in power consumption for example, Ethereum apparently uses far less per transaction.
Allero@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 54d
On Ethereum using less: this is due to a different consensus mechanism involved, one that is more eco-friendly, but less distributed and inherently (mathematically) less secure.
Generally, it should be fine on the scale of Ethereum, but Bitcoin has it safer, at the cost of plenty of power and e-waste.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 54d
True
False. 888k Ethereum validators. 80k Bitcoin Nodes
Not sure what angle this is coming from, but about 10k validators are needed to secure Ethereum. In BTC all it takes is for Antpool and Foundry to team up and you are above the 51% threshold.
Allero@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 54d
That same 51% attack can occur on Proof-of-Stake, except you could immediately rewrite anything and also rob legitimate nodes of their stake, for all I understand.
Momentary 51% of Proof-of-Work merely makes it possible to extremely slowly rewrite the neighboring blocks. As most Bitcoin transactions require many "confirmations" (blocks coming after the one with the transaction), the attack realistically needs a very big scale (ideally significantly more than 51%, it's just theoretical minimum), rely on serious level of luck and, through the open ledger, it will be extremely easy to detect.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 53d
You can't really rewrite old blocks with PoS, and your attack gets weaker over time as your invalid blocks are proven to be false.
https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2020/11/06/pos2020.html
Allero@lemmy.today · 2 pts · 53d
Curious. Will take a closer look, thanks.
boboliosisjones@feddit.nu · 2 pts · 54d
Absolutely not the best. just the best adoption rate due to being first. Also because buying any other crypto usually involves step 1: buy bitcoin and step 2: trade for whatevercoin.
SolacefromSilence@fedia.io · 1 pts · 55d
Lol, yeah sure. Just buy the dip and no one gets hurt*
imperious_melange@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 55d
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 54d
I completely misunderstood this image.
I thought the gorilla was actually a dog-man without a head, and the gorilla arms were ears attached directly to the neck, and the gorilla legs are arms, and instead of being on the table, the headless dogman was taking a selfie from above the OR, and while wearing corded earphones.
I can't explain how I got there.
PeriodicallyPedantic@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 54d
Like this
Homo_Erectus@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 54d
That's a preatty unique concept if you ask me
Town@lemmy.zip · 10 pts · 55d
It's only down 50% in the past year
NochMehrG@feddit.org · 6 pts · 55d
It will rise, buddy!
Speculater@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 55d
I can't wait for BTC to go the way of NFC.
MagicPterodactyl@lemmy.ml · 27 pts · 55d
I hope you mean NFT because NFC is pretty useful
Speculater@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 55d
I 100% meant NFT, lol.
ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 54d
Go Falcons!
Speculater@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 55d
Also, happy Cake Day!
Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 11 pts · 55d
Accepted as a method of payment nearly everywhere these days?
big_slap@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 55d
?? I use nfc every day, wym
prole@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 54d
It's like the worst of all the cryptos. It's only the most popular because it was the first
Allero@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 54d
Eh, both have their utility, just not whatever crypto bros made of it.
I use crypto to pay for things abroad, like a decent VPN, from a heavily sanctioned authoritarian shithole. And NFTs can be useful not as a speculative asset, but as a blockchain-verified decentralized token. In this capacity, both are still completely relevant.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 54d
You use crypto to pay for things, not BTC.
The vested interests controlling bitcoin (the miners and asic manufacturers) refuse to update the technology for modern usage.
Allero@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 54d
Fair enough.
W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 55d
People using HomeAssistant would like a word….
null@piefed.nullspace.lol · 6 pts · 55d
If you bought bitcoin and held it for a minimum of 5 years, it's worth more than you paid for it.
Allero@lemmy.today · 6 pts · 54d
And unless you bought during all-time-highs, it's worth WAY more.
whoisearth@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 54d
I love that there's a large section of nerds who think that magic beans are worth buying.
Here I am working slow and steady accumulating tangible wealth.
prole@sh.itjust.works · 11 pts · 54d
Everyone seems to forget that the magic beans in Jack and the Beanstalk worked. They did exactly what they were supposed to do, and not really a bad purchase at all given the shit he went on to loot from that giant
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 54d
Magic beans get you golden egg laying geese.
anon_8675309@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 54d
Compound interest and time.
whoisearth@lemmy.ca · 1 pts · 54d
If it looks and sounds too good to be true it probably is.
anon_8675309@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 54d
Maffs is hard
QuinnyCoded@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 53d
Lemmy is posting magical beans now?
Mubelotix@jlai.lu · 4 pts · 55d
It's just 50% down from ath though
BlackLaZoR@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 54d
Always did
Neural_drift@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 54d
Should I not sell then?
BeUnique@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 55d
Bitcoin is still to damn expensive for me...
FiniteBanjo@feddit.online · 7 pts · 55d
A bitcoin is divisible down to 0.00000001 (one Satoshi). 1 US Penny or $0.01 is worth 16 Satoshi.