cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/17303063
An enlightening and high quality video on how money and the banking system work, why they are corrupted and what is the solution.
Open source money? Why not just call it crypto so everyone understands what this is about?
Avoiding “crypto” obfuscates the truth and avoids the scammy reputation that crypto now has. Calling it “open source” also lets it slide into more communities.
It’s just marketing for a YouTube channel.
Well, there probably are some closed source cryptos
While not outright obvious, the title is technically correct. It is open source money.
Calling it crypto won’t make people understand. Watching the video will help people to understand, the why and the how. They don’t necessarily have to agree with the solution but the most important thing is understanding the problem because too many people are still unaware of it.
Why not call it by its full name: Decentralized Peer-to-peer Open-source Cryptographically-secured Self-custodial Money
“Everyone” doesn’t have a clue about “crypto” other than “there are scams”.
This video has seemingly no sources for its claims.
Here are some facts:
- Lyn Alden is part of “Ego Death Capital”, a venture capital company around cryptocurrencies (https://egodeath.capital/team).
- Lyn Alden is the Board Director of Swan Bitcoin - a Bitcoin investment platform (https://www.swanbitcoin.com/alden/)
- Lyn Alden is not an economist (https://www.lynalden.com/about-lyn-alden/)
Here are some weird claims it makes:
- Bitcoin transactions happen at the “speed of light” (~27:00) REALITY CHECK: As Bitcoin has grown, transactions have become slow. It’s in fact why many people do not accept it for purchases anymore.
- Bitcoin cannot be diluted (~27:25) REALITY CHECK: Bitcoin is always being diluted until it reaches its hard limit.
- The value of Bitcoin has only increased over time (~27:50) REALITY CHECK: The log scale is playing tricks. A linear graph would show how volatile Bitcoin has truly been.
- Nobody controls the network (~28:25) REALITY CHECK: If someone were to own 50% or more of the network’s compute power, they could control the network.
Here are some things it omits:
- Bitcoin transaction fees (~28:15): Transaction fees that empower miners have also made it much less usable as a currency. The transactions fees for Bitcoin are so high that credit card fees are actually more reasonable.
- Bitcoin’s hard limit is likely very dangerous for the network (~29:00): Once the hard limit is reached, it is unclear if people will keep pumping computing power at it. If the creation of new Bitcoin is no longer allowed, it is possible that transaction fees will need to be raised to compensate miners.
- Bitcoin’s lack of rules allow for massive amounts of fraud and prevents effective taxation (~29:25): While the video paints a cute picture of financial freedom, the reality is that Bitcoin allows for fraud on a world scale and does not allow for sales tax because of the way that anyone can have a cryptocurrency wallet without disclosing their identity.
Genuinely, this is Bitcoin propaganda.
Adding to
The value of Bitcoin has only increased over time
???
And not only a bit. A fall from 67 to 16.
Bitcoin transactions happen at the “speed of light” (~27:00) REALITY CHECK: As Bitcoin has grown, transactions have become slow. It’s in fact why many people do not accept it for purchases anymore.
Bitcoin is the same speed it’s always been. Blocks happen every 10 minutes. The transaction is transmitted at the speed of light but final settlement requires a block. Pay a high fee? Get in on the next block. Want to save on fees? Maybe it takes a few blocks for your transaction to go through. If you use Bitcoin lightning (a scaling layer built on top of Bitcoin which moves transactions off-chain but secures them on-chain), transactions take under a second for pennies in fees. Fees are much, much lower than credit card, paypal, or other similar competitors. You could send a billion dollars in a single transaction and pay $1.50 on main chain, or you could send $5 on lightning and pay <1c in fees. Lightning has been around for 5 years now, it works, I use it regularly.
Bitcoin cannot be diluted (~27:25) REALITY CHECK: Bitcoin is always being diluted until it reaches its hard limit.
The supply of Bitcoin, 21 million coins, is known and has always been known. It can’t be diluted beyond that point.
Nobody controls the network (~28:25) REALITY CHECK: If someone were to own 50% or more of the network’s compute power, they could control the network.
Nobody owns 51% of the network. Even such an actor can’t print extra BTC or force money to move without the appropriate private key. The best they can do is temporarily delay transactions while burning north of a trillion dollars in energy and equipment doing so. Which is why nobody has ever done it.
Bitcoin’s hard limit is likely very dangerous for the network (~29:00): Once the hard limit is reached, it is unclear if people will keep pumping computing power at it. If the creation of new Bitcoin is no longer allowed, it is possible that transaction fees will need to be raised to compensate miners.
Given that fees have continued to increase with time, this seems like not a problem. It’s not “dangerous”, it’s part of the design. If hashrate drops, it drops, but given that fees and hashrate have continued to grow despite continually minting less coins, it’s not really a problem.
Bitcoin’s lack of rules allow for massive amounts of fraud and prevents effective taxation (~29:25): While the video paints a cute picture of financial freedom, the reality is that Bitcoin allows for fraud on a world scale and does not allow for sales tax because of the way that anyone can have a cryptocurrency wallet without disclosing their identity.
Anybody can have a cash wallet without disclosing their identity, yet they still pay taxes. Bitcoin’s rules prevent the kind of fraud where the value of your money is printed away via supply inflation of central banks or “currency restructuring” on the global scale by the the world bank. People pay taxes because they think it’s the right thing to do and/or because the government has guns and makes them. Either way, if you run a company, if you are providing goods and services, you have a place you can send somebody with a gun and enforce those rules. All the companies currently paying taxes would keep paying taxes if they used Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is the same speed it’s always been. Blocks happen every 10 minutes. Pay a high fee? Get in on the next block. Want to save on fees? Maybe it takes a few blocks for your transaction to go through.
This is a fancy way to say that it is slower unless you pay higher fees.
Fees are much, much lower than credit card, paypal, or other similar competitors. You could send a billion dollars in a single transaction and pay $1.50 on main chain, or you could send $5 on lightning and pay <1c in fees. Lightning has been around for 5 years now, it works, I use it regularly.
The fees are fluctuating and can be much higher than you claim (https://decrypt.co/234446/bitcoin-fees-skyrocket-okx-exchange-burning-utxo)
While it is true you could pay lower fees if you send larger amounts, if we take your 5$ fee at face value, then any transaction below 147.35$ will have lower fees on a payment service like Stripe (3.4% for international transactions + 0.30$ per transaction).
The supply of Bitcoin, 21 million coins, is known and has always been known. It can’t be diluted beyond that point.
I did not claim otherwise.
Nobody owns 51% of the network. Even such an actor can’t print extra BTC or force money to move without the appropriate private key. The best they can do is temporarily delay transactions while burning north of a trillion dollars in energy and equipment doing so. Which is why nobody has ever done it.
Nobody currently does. However, it is my understanding that theu could fork the network and update it if they had 50%+1 of the network. It is not impossible.
Given that fees have continued to increase with time, this seems like not a problem. It’s not “dangerous”, it’s part of the design. If hashrate drops, it drops, but given that fees and hashrate have continued to grow despite continually minting less coins, it’s not really a problem.
It is a problem because people do not want to pay higher fees.
Anybody can have a cash wallet without disclosing their identity, yet they still pay taxes.
They can pay taxes but they don’t have to. There is no system to know the identity and know the tax rate that should be applied using the raw bitcoin transaction method. This has to be applied using an external centralized service at best.
Bitcoin’s rules prevent the kind of fraud where the value of your money is printed away via supply inflation of central banks or “currency restructuring” on the global scale by the the world bank.
This is not fraud and it is not what I’m talking about.
People pay taxes because they think it’s the right thing to do and/or because the government has guns and makes them. Either way, if you run a company, if you are providing goods and services, you have a place you can send somebody with a gun and enforce those rules. All the companies currently paying taxes would keep paying taxes if they used Bitcoin.
The tax and identity layers have to be added on top. They are not built-in. While it is true a country can force things, it is not true they can force the bitcoin network to apply these rules. This is in fact one of the selling points of Bitcoin according to this video.
This is a fancy way to say that it is slower unless you pay higher fees.
My bank takes:
- 24-48 hours for 0€, only in the EU, up to 15k€
- 5 minutes for 0.50% (min 1.25€), only in the EU, up to 900€
- 48-120 hours for 0.70% (min 35€), international, up to 20k€
So my bank is also “slower unless you pay higher fees”… or “slower even with higher fees”… and on top of that, it has an amount cap.
Meanwhile, on Bitcoin Lightning (https://1ml.com/statistics):
- Median Base Fee: $0.000617
fork the network and update it if they had 50%+1
No. There are 3 components to Bitcoin: Miners, P2P nodes. and coin owners.
- Getting 1 miner and 1 P2P node, allows forking… and getting kicked off the network.
- Getting >50% of mining power, allows a chance at double-spending some own coins.
- Getting 100% of miners AND/OR 100% of P2P nodes, allows taking over the network.
- Getting an owner’s key, allows full access to the coins tied to that key.
Neither of those are impossible, some are just easier and have a higher ROI than others.
The tax and identity layers have to be added on top. They are not built-in.
Same as with cash.
Yes, this is one of the selling points of Bitcoin vs. Banks, in an age where cash is getting phased out.
The opposite, is also a selling point of “OpenSource Money with Taxes built-in” vs. Bitcoin.
Pick whichever side you prefer.
This video has seemingly no sources for its claims.
It’s just an introductory video. The references are in her book. I counted around 300.
Lyn Alden is part of “Ego Death Capital”, a venture capital company around cryptocurrencies (https://egodeath.capital/team)
Only Bitcoin. Bitcoin is not any crypto or altcoin, which I agree most are scams.
Lyn Alden is the Board Director of Swan Bitcoin - a Bitcoin investment platform (https://www.swanbitcoin.com/alden/) Lyn Alden is not an economist (https://www.lynalden.com/about-lyn-alden/)
Who are you expecting to make a video about the failure of the current system? A banker?
Bitcoin cannot be diluted (~27:25) REALITY CHECK: Bitcoin is always being diluted until it reaches its hard limit.
What she obviously means is that nobody can delute it. It creates new money at a mathematically determined rate.
The value of Bitcoin has only increased over time (~27:50) REALITY CHECK: The log scale is playing tricks. A linear graph would show how volatile Bitcoin has truly been.
She doesn’t say that. She says bigger highs and bigger lows, which is true. That doesn’t mean it always increases.
Bitcoin’s hard limit is likely very dangerous for the network (~29:00): Once the hard limit is reached, it is unclear if people will keep >pumping computing power at it. If the creation of new Bitcoin is no longer allowed, it is possible that transaction fees will need to >be raised to compensate miners.
Dont worry, it will happen in 2140.
And of course is Bitcoin propaganda, and more of this quality is needed.
As Bitcoin has grown, transactions have become slow
Except for Bitcoin Lightning Network:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_Network
it is possible that transaction fees will need to be raised to compensate miners.
That’s been the plan from the beginning.
Mining halving has been defined with a rough estimate of adoption, volume, and technological advances. It’s why Lightning Network was developed, and why Ethereum has switched to a Proof-of-ownership mining scheme.
The estimate is rough and quite inflexible, which has lead to cyclic fluctuations around the period of halvings… but from a long term perspective, it has been working reasonably well for the first 10% of Bitcoin’s starting period.
So the advantages of bitcoin are, that it is a market based deflationary money?
Does she not see what happens with unregulated markets? They gravitate towards monopolies, which is why… we invented regulation and “corrupt officials”.
Also deflation is way way way more dangerous than inflation, simply because each actors amount of money will start to become more and more worth. This in turn will lead to lower tendencies to invest in new technologies/products and therefor kill progress.
They are just a crypto shill and a neoliberal. They don’t care for liberation of humans, just for liberation of payments from government. They are a professional investor, I’d say this video is basically anarcho-capitalism in a nutshell. Some of the points they raise are valid, but many are not. For example, not being able to print more money in the government actually removes the ability to control deflation, and if governments can’t print money, that’s basically self-imposed austerity.
if you want to pay somebody on the other side of the world, crypto already lets you do that. There’s no need to hype it up any more than it already is.
Also disingenuous to hype up bitcoin without bringing up the inherent environmental concerns.
