Bitcoin

BananaRepublic

There is of course the ethical issue. Mining Bitcoin uses ridiculous amounts of electricity, and buying and selling is by its very nature also very wasteful of energy. This is so bad that the Bitcoin network uses more energy than many nations such as Ireland. The idea that people can waste so much energy in pursuit of greed is abhorrent in the opinion of many people including myself. 

Shares on the other hand do not directly promote climate change. In fact improving energy efficiency can directly impact profitability and hence the share price.

markj113

BananaRepublic said:

There is of course the ethical issue. Mining Bitcoin uses ridiculous amounts of electricity, and buying and selling is by its very nature also very wasteful of energy. This is so bad that the Bitcoin network uses more energy than many nations such as Ireland. The idea that people can waste so much energy in pursuit of greed is abhorrent in the opinion of many people including myself. 

Shares on the other hand do not directly promote climate change. In fact improving energy efficiency can directly impact profitability and hence the share price.

How much energy does the traditional banking system use globally, servers, properties, staff travel etc?

Malthusian

markj113 said:

BananaRepublic said:

There is of course the ethical issue. Mining Bitcoin uses ridiculous amounts of electricity, and buying and selling is by its very nature also very wasteful of energy. This is so bad that the Bitcoin network uses more energy than many nations such as Ireland. The idea that people can waste so much energy in pursuit of greed is abhorrent in the opinion of many people including myself. 

Shares on the other hand do not directly promote climate change. In fact improving energy efficiency can directly impact profitability and hence the share price.

How much energy does the traditional banking system use globally, servers, properties, staff travel etc?

Exactly as much as it should given that the traditional banking system enables the lifestyle of everyone who doesn't farm dirt for a living, by moving capital from where it is to where it needs to be, allowing people to keep their savings 100% safe for free, allowing people to pay for things by waving a card, etc.

This has nothing to do with the energy used by a tiny minority of people trying to get rich quick by trading points between each other, which has no social value whatsoever, as it's a zero-sum game.

markj113

Malthusian said:

markj113 said:

BananaRepublic said:

There is of course the ethical issue. Mining Bitcoin uses ridiculous amounts of electricity, and buying and selling is by its very nature also very wasteful of energy. This is so bad that the Bitcoin network uses more energy than many nations such as Ireland. The idea that people can waste so much energy in pursuit of greed is abhorrent in the opinion of many people including myself. 

Shares on the other hand do not directly promote climate change. In fact improving energy efficiency can directly impact profitability and hence the share price.

How much energy does the traditional banking system use globally, servers, properties, staff travel etc?

Exactly as much as it should given that the traditional banking system enables the lifestyle of everyone who doesn't farm dirt for a living, by moving capital from where it is to where it needs to be, allowing people to keep their savings 100% safe for free, allowing people to pay for things by waving a card, etc.

This has nothing to do with the energy used by a tiny minority of people trying to get rich quick by trading points between each other, which has no social value whatsoever, as it's a zero-sum game.

A simple hardware wallet keeps digital currency 100% safe.

A linked mastercard to your crypto holdings allows spending by waving a card.

Crypto enables you to move capital quicker, easier and without having to jump through hoops for the banking system.

The whole central banking model has failed and is now propped up with nothing more than never ending currency printing inflating everything into a !!!!!! bubble.

Malthusian

A simple hardware wallet keeps digital currency 100% safe.

In exactly the same way as gold buried under your floorboards is 100% safe, i.e. 100% safe providing you ignore all the risks. A hell of a lot of money in hardware wallets has been permanently lost or rendered inaccessible for something that is 100% safe.

A linked mastercard to your crypto holdings allows spending by waving a card.

No, it allows you to convert Bitcoin into fiat for a processing fee, and then benefit from the usual advantages of fiat currency.

And why would I want to spend my crypto holdings on goods and services when if I hang on to them they'll make me rich? Who wants to be that dude who bought a pizza for 10,000 BTC (current value £75 million)?

Crypto enables you to move capital quicker, easier and without having to jump through hoops for the banking system.

As shown by the last pump when Bitcoin transactions took days, despite being in use by a tiny number of get-rich-quick gamblers compared to the billions using the mainstream banking system, moving money through crypto is massively slower than the mainstream banking system, as well as being GDPR-non-compliant.

The whole central banking model has failed and is now propped up with nothing more than never ending currency printing

"Capitalism - a failed system for 800 years and counting"

markj113

You obviously have limited knowledge of the subject and are merely regurgitating what others have posted.

"In exactly the same way as gold buried under your floorboards is 100% safe, i.e. 100% safe providing you ignore all the risks. A hell of a lot of money in hardware wallets has been permanently lost or rendered inaccessible for something that is 100% safe."

You do realise a hardware wallet requires physical access to the device and the pin number to access the funds?

"As shown by the last pump when Bitcoin transactions took days, despite being in use by a tiny number of get-rich-quick gamblers compared to the billions using the mainstream banking system, moving money through crypto is massively slower than the mainstream banking system, as well as being GDPR-non-compliant."

And banks can shut the doors, deny access to your funds and can take a haircut off the top e.g Cyrpus, take days to process international transfers, charge you £30 to send money to europe etc.

"Capitalism - a failed system for 800 years and counting"

I think you'll find tax payer funded bailouts of banks, propping up failing companies through money printing and helicopter money for the population are the polar opposite of true capitalism and it amazes me that anyone still thinks the current system isn't broken.

bowlhead99

Malthusian said:

A simple hardware wallet keeps digital currency 100% safe.

In exactly the same way as gold buried under your floorboards is 100% safe, i.e. 100% safe providing you ignore all the risks. A hell of a lot of money in hardware wallets has been permanently lost or rendered inaccessible for something that is 100% safe

markj113 said:

You obviously have limited knowledge of the subject and are merely regurgitating what others have posted.

You do realise a hardware wallet requires physical access to the device and the pin number to access the funds?

Yes, if you want to get your £$€ thousands of value out of your hardware wallet you will need physical access to it and the pin number, so will need to have ensured that you haven't lost physical access, or forgotten the pin, and also that it hasn't suffered irretrievable data loss by being put through the washing machine by a mischievous 6-year old nephew, being caught at high temperature for too long in a housefire without you having remembered your credentials for the backup etc.

Fortunately I know that my nephew is not going to put my pension in the dishwasher, but I don't need multiple copies of my pension or bank accounts in any case because they're held by reputable financial institutions with a compensation scheme. I do have a backup for my bitcoin, although my heirs don't have the information to access it, something I should perhaps remedy.

markj113

bowlhead99 said:
Yes, if you want to get your £$€ thousands of value out of your hardware wallet you will need physical access to it and the pin number, so will need to have ensured that you haven't lost physical access, or forgotten the pin, and also that it hasn't suffered irretrievable data loss by being put through the washing machine by a mischievous 6-year old nephew, being caught at high temperature for too long in a housefire without you having remembered your credentials for the backup etc.

Fortunately I know that my nephew is not going to put my pension in the dishwasher, but I don't need multiple copies of my pension or bank accounts in any case because they're held by reputable financial institutions with a compensation scheme. I do have a backup for my bitcoin, although my heirs don't have the information to access it, something I should perhaps remedy.

read up what a seed phrase is.
Crypto is still in the wild west phase and people need to realise they are the bank and have 100% control of the funds.  A grown up approach to security and a little planning is required.

Sailtheworld

I think any of the cool kids who used bitcoin to buy a coffee in 2014 must still have the occasional weep.

George_Michael

markj113 said:

You do realise a hardware wallet requires physical access to the device and the pin number to access the funds?

markj113 said:

A simple hardware wallet keeps digital currency 100% safe.

 And you do realise that anything that requires physical access to can be lost or damaged.
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/20/man-lost-127-million-worth-of-bitcoins-and-city-wont-let-him-look.html

I'm sure that the man concerned sleeps happily knowing that his digital currency is 100% safe buried under many tons of rubbish.