Quote:
Originally Posted by Rathji
All good points.
You might argue that having a decentralized currency that is free of influence from governments is a good thing.
I don't know how much that I agree with that thought process, but that is one of the things which many proponents of mining say about it.
|
Haha, so you are saying all this computing power ISN'T doing anything useful? My question is confirmed?
I remember installing the SETI @ home screensaver years ago, I was thinking, maybe all this processing was at least doing some useful menial computing task. Or maybe it could be.
Anyway, I am very interested in the idea of the bitcoin currency. Decentralized, private, moving towards being usable anywhere. It's a great idea and could really change the world for the better.
However in this specific example it fails. Not because of all the other things the article brought up, which are true. But also because there's no change in value to the economy in 'mining' these coins. To continue with the mining example, people take minerals out of the ground and get paid for that. (Or own the minerals and can sell them, like the coins.) They go into the economy cause they are useful. Not just to those that trade them and spend them, but they constantly get used and turned into products over and over again. This is how all pay for trade occurs. Someone is turning their time, and physical or mental prowess, into something that is useful to other people.
Besides spending bitcoins, they aren't useful. No one is getting a product or service with all the work and money that is going into them. Not only that, but significant resources get put into 'mining' them. Increasingly so as we get closer to 'mining' them all.
I'm not railing against a 'devil' here, it's a very small thing in the grand scheme of things. Just thinking through the thought exercise that is the bitcoin, I almost see it as destructive, because it's not truly ADDING anything. It's just wasting time and resources.