this post was submitted on 20 May 2024
1597 points (97.2% liked)

Technology

59174 readers
2689 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
  • Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, does not believe in cryptocurrencies, calling them a vehicle for scams and a Ponzi scheme.
  • Torvalds was once rumored to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, but he clarified it was a joke and denied owning a Bitcoin fortune.
  • Torvalds also dismissed the idea of technological singularity as a bedtime story for children, saying continuous exponential growth does not make sense.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

They can no longer be purchased.

Not exactly apocalypse-proof.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

While the ones that do exist still exist, and that's not to say that somebody couldn't create other things that were similar. Just as long as the private key is not peeled away, then you know it's actually got the value it says. And you don't need the internet to verify that.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Okay, so let's say the country's economy has collapsed. People are fleeing for the border. I go up to a border guard with one of those and hand it to him... do you really think he's going to believe that has value?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Really depends on the country. If you are fleeing somewhere like the United States, there's about a one in four chance that it would be recognized. If you're fleeing some other place that has had currency issues in the past, then it's probably quite a bit higher.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

there’s about a one in four chance that it would be recognized.

That is utter nonsense. You show me where you got that figure from.

Or do you just mean the Bitcoin symbol? Because I doubt someone would assume a metal coin had value just because it had a Bitcoin symbol on it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

https://monero.town/comment/4613276

Edit: You are right. My bad. It's more like a one in five. Not a one in four.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I'm not sure what you think that proves about whether or not a border guard would accept a metal coin that the briber claims has a value in Bitcoin. The guard could have $100 million in a Bitcoin wallet and still say, "this is some kind of bullshit trick." Why wouldn't someone try to trick a border guard like that if they were desperate.

So basically, you'd have to hope this border guard would either be one of the very small number of people (hardly a quarter of Americans) who would look at a metal coin with a Bitcoin symbol on it and decide it has value to them.

Again, seems like chickens would be a better bet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Well, there aren't many of those around. So if it's recognized, then the person would know to look for a QR code on it. And if it has not been destroyed by peeling the hologram off, then they will know it's good. Seems like bribing a border guard with chickens would be kind of difficult. Just for the noise they would make and the space they would take up. You might be able to pass them an ounce of gold or something. That might be a possibility.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

So if it’s recognized

Yes, this is my point. It almost certainly won't be.

Seems like bribing a border guard with chickens would be kind of difficult.

Put chicken in car, drive to border, take out chicken, give to guard.

Just for the noise they would make and the space they would take up.

So this is a societal collapse where chickens are made illegal?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Hey, 1/5 to 1/4 arent terrible odds. Even if they haven't used it, there's a damn good chance they've heard of it. If they've heard of it, then they know it has value.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Again, your '1/5 to 1/4' is based on people who understand what Bitcoin is, not based on people who would see that coin and think it has value. Stop being dishonest.

You show me evidence that these metal coins, which, again, are no longer available for purchase, are something even most people who own Bitcoin know about and think has value.

Also, I'm guessing more than 1/4 of the people who are food insecure because society has collapsed know the value of a chicken.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

That 1 in 5 to 1 in 4 is the amount of people who have actively used crypto in some form. Everybody almost has heard about it and knows it has value, even if it's to give it to somebody else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Yet again, that doesn't mean they think these metal coins have value.

Stop conflating the two. It's dishonest.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The metal coin has a private key embedded underneath a hologram. The private key has never touched the internet. And so if you throw it away, that value is lost forever. So the metal coin in and of itself does have value. As long as you can physically see that the hologram has not been peeled away and the private key exposed, which would be a dead giveaway, that it has been swept and is no longer of any value.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

And you think you have a one in four chance of a border guard realizing that?

Because, again, if society is collapsing, food will be insecure, and far more than one in four people know you can eat a chicken. In fact, I would say four in four people know you can eat a chicken.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Well, if the average intelligence level I see around me... They might not know a chicken is edible. LOL. However, only more serious note. It doesn't seem like it all goes down at once. I mean, people in Venezuela have issues for sure, but they just take their money as soon as they get it and put it into something else that will retain their value. So we won't go from an ordered stable society to Mad Max where everybody's stealing chickens from preppers in one day. It would take years to get there.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

Ah, so this is a societal collapse where you have to bribe a border guard to get out of the country but where food is secure. I see. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works in Venezuela, so can you give an actual example of such a situation?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago (1 children)

At least from what I understand, Cuba.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

Can you provide an example of someone getting out of Cuba by bribing a guard with a metal coin representing a certain Bitcoin value?

Because, believe it or not, I've met plenty of Cubans who just got on an airplane.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Admittedly, I have very little actual information on their situation, and it's more just hearsay. So if you've met them, then you would have more information than I do.