Not recommended though, RPIs aren’t really suited for production, plus I think only Nimbus runs well on RPIs?

I think a lot of people just have difficulty decoupling a few separate but connected ideas like crypto being internet money, from the blockchain as a ledger, and transaction records as a means of proof.

What people really need is a ledger for cash itself, where notes can be scanned and then structured into a transaction and popped into the blockchain where said transaction ID gets verified and printed out like an EFTPOS note.

If that sounds like we’re going full circle it’s probably because everything becomes harder but not always necessarily better with the more you DIY.

Your position was clear.

I’m not sure how else you’d prefer someone to call out untruths that you’ve posted. It’s either calling you a liar, or some version of saying you’re talking out your ass, or what not. But you’re right, that’s what I was saying. FWIW, I don’t think it’s lying the way Trump lies; I think there’s just a lot of uninformed knee-jerk reactionism. For example, you talk about processing times; have you ever heard of Lightning? It’s a crypto used a lot in Nostr and which has instant transfer times.

My point is that I you’re arguing a point that is easily refuted, when you have other points that are reasonable and justifiable. I could argue against the other points, too; for example, I could bring up proof-of-stake crypto-currencies which do not have huge energy use, and which haveno more energy footprint than the SSL transactions that you’re using constantly, every day. But it would be a harder arguement for me to make because the original cryptocoin, Bitcoin, is proof-of-work and has had a huge eco impact.

And I might not try to argue that unless I thought you were open to discussing the topic in good faith. Which I don’t believe you are; I think you’ve already made up your mind on the topic, and now all that’s left is evangelism.

I do have a question, though: do you understand how blockchains work, and the what the various kinds of proofs are? Not in the “could you program it” sense, but in general, like could you describe how they work to someone over beer? Or have you just read a lot about how bad they are? How much of your opinion is based on your social media filter biases?

there are decentralized currencies that work perfectly well without wasting tons of energy, although I agree that none have yet achieved the necessary scale to actually replace current centralized money systems. These currencies might find a niche that doesn’t need the capacity to handle thousands of transactions per second, or perhaps one of the many many different ways to scale these currencies that are currently being worked on will end up being good enough (they aren’t, yet)

And shouldn’t the environmental cost of “real” currencies be compared as well? It’s not like printing and minting all those bills and coins is zero energy. Even treating it virtually (direct deposit, etc - we rarely handle cash) has some overhead.

I don’t have a horse in this race, but comments that are obviously trying to grind an ace are suspicious to me.

Thanks for the response. Aside from the fed responses lol I was wondering what people actually used it for since we can’t deny there is a lack of products you can buy with crypto. I will def start using it for donations and VPN

“Did you know if you ask me if I’m a cop that I legally have to answer you truthfully if I’m a cop? So relax! What do you spend it on?”

You mistake me, I’m not saying Bitcoin is better than gold. I was just pointing out that returns are not the only reason.

I guess it depends on your time-frame and your risk profile. BTC/ETH over the medium term has done much better than pretty much any other asset in the world. Altcoins didn’t even factor into my brain when I made that comment.

This is a weird take and not the “gotcha” you might think it is.

Cryptos are a scam where nobody but very few at the top of the fraud actually win. While some crypto bros might be beyond help, they are actively endangering other people by trying to sell them their snake oil and drag them down with them. And the most tragic thing is, they stop applying any form of reason before making dangerous monetary decisions. People have and will continue to lose all their savings, so I would definitely agree with you that this shit is disgusting.

Decentralised social media on the other hand does not and can not endanger people’s lifes like that. Yes, social media has dangers in itself. But I’d wager those dangers are far less pronounced, despite having a share of wackos.

If you are into cryptos and don’t realise it is among the worst forms of gambling on it’s best days, maybe you should take a couple of steps back and reevaluate if you actually understand everything that’s going on, including the umcanny risks: Do you actually, for real, understand how it all works on the technological side or do you just pretend to or take someone’s word for it? Do you actually make your own decisions or are those influenced by forces outside of your control (e.g. “diamond hands”, “hodl” etc.)? Do you have a concrete and detailed financial plan that incorporates the worst scenarios as well ad exit strategies or is your “investment strategy” mostly determined by chance? How is your investment secured? Could you actually and factually sue in court and win in case bad actors try to prevent you from cashing out? How exactly is anything supposed to turn a profit and who’s pocket is that magical profit supposed to come out of? Is anyone standing to make a profit from you and can you guarantee it won’t happen? How?

Those are just a few (but not even all) considerations where cryptos usually should ring enormous alarm bells for anyone with a modicum of financial education. But not to crypto bros. To them all of this is weirdly enough just dandy and questioning anything is greatly discouraged. At some point they stop all critical thinking and just throw money into the fire, so some grifters can grift.

I’d personally rather use the money in cash to light a real fire. At least that will provide some warmth for a hot second.