Many people on HN who talk down against Bitcoin are indoctrinated into the current ideology. Anything that goes against the current ideology is refuted, ignored, dismissed as fads, bubbles, scams..etc Ideology is a powerful thing and it's hard to break out of it.

If you want to learn more about this concept, you should research about Slavoj Zizek's work on ideology. Bitcoin is not just technology, but a multi-faceted ideology founded around cypherpunks ideas, liberty, sovereignty, austrian economic system, free markets.

Even the way Bitcoin is developed (slow, methodical) and Bitcoin apps are built is different to SV way which is move fast, break things, iterate.

>Bitcoin is not just technology, but a multi-faceted ideology founded around cypherpunks ideas, liberty, sovereignty, austrian economic system, free markets.

This is the narrative that people use to make it seem more savory. But it's just about the money. No one cares enough about any of those ideals for them to be a meaningful part of what Bitcoin is. Those ideas have existed forever in the back channels of the web, and are memorialized in the endless plethora of abandoned decentralized technologies that were never profitable. It's money, plain and simple. There's nothing wrong with that, but for whatever reason the crypto community has some kind of chip on their shoulder about hiding the fact that it is just about profit.

It’s about money to me in-so-far it is an enormously profitable way to earn a living given we are at the earliest of days in a ground breaking technology. That’s the same logic as internet entrepreneurs in the 90s.

The main difference between myself and HN groupthink is I believe crypto and blockchain have inherent value and revolutionary potential. There is a loud group here that says all of blockchain is a scam, refuse to look into it deeply, parrot the same bullshit, and when they are proven wrong by the market they just say “Well wait 5 more years and you’ll see!” which is impossible to prove as the crash can always be in the future. It’s so exhausting and the only thing that makes me feel better is the fact I was super right they were super wrong and I’m rich and don’t need to spend my life building some stupid middleware that powers the middleware that powers the privacy-violation pipeline for some SV dweeb or megacorp. I just keep delivering value that frees people from the corrupt state and earn insane money because few talented people know how to do it or grasp how useful it is.

You're absolutely right, It is about money and profiting. Aligning yourself with Bitcoin's ideology is supremely profitable.

Bitcoin _is_ money though. It's only logical that buying into the concept will have returns.

Yes people speculate on it, does it mean no one really believes in it's value propositions? This argument has very little weight when you compare it to anything else. Is the majority of the stock market all about profit? There's very little of the traditional stock pricing going on anymore.

Imagine using Žižek to argue for Bitcoin.

I invested, work in, and continue to believe in bitcoin / Ethereum / crypto ecosystem because of my beliefs in exactly those things. Austrian economics made so much sense to me the first time I sat down and properly studied it. Keynesian / mainstream economics was always shoved down my throat but it came down to “there is a man with a money printer and when shit gets bad he will print money” which made no sense to me logically. I think many of society’s problems come down to easy money which has caused enormous malinvestment and warped incentives.

I didn’t buy crypto as a Ponzi. I bought it because it makes perfect sense if you have a libertarian / Austrian / free market / individualist / free people mindset. Which I do!

I'd checkout http://dazaar.com/ as well. Same ideas but built on Hypercore technology and with payments module built in

On the eve of World War 2, I am certain that people couldn't possibly imagine what was in front of them.

I've made a project that you can sell your live stream for btc. totally distributed using hypercore and Lightning network

https://github.com/rbndg/Bitstation

I can barely get 1-2 people to briefly look at my stream, and that’s without attempting to charge them anything at all. And meanwhile even popular people stream for free. Why should anyone pay upfront to watch a stream? Much better with Patreon, Twitch subscriptions and donations while allowing anyone to come see.

Leonardo did "ship" some of the greatest works of art. Some of those paintings took decades to complete. Which you happily glanced over.

Comparing steve jobs to Leonardo is a discredit to both steve jobs and leonardo.

This is why in the long run Bitcoin wins.

Lol...bitcoin is a distributed casino. Nothing more. I can't believe we still talk about it.

Casinos (supposedly) have it set so all player have equal chances of winning. I'd say "distributed ponzi scheme" is more accurate.

So is gold, diamonds or stamps, or anything at all in this world.

As a matter of fact diamonds are know scam with overinflated price that are controlled by cartels that constrict supply to set and control the price. So is oil!

I can't believe we still talk about it.

At least you can make jewerly with gold and diamonds. Let's not mention what you can do with oil. I can fork bitcoin and have as many bitcoins I want...but we both know they are worthless.

With bitcoin you get the worst of both worlds: no jewerly to show off and a "scam with overinflated price that are controlled by cartels". Go in, have fun, but don't delude yourself that your are "investing" something more than a ponzi scheme.

First off all, I have not said anything about "investing". Its obvious that bitcoin is controlled be massive whales that swing the price. But how is that different than FED pumping money into stock market? All of the stories about 'boys club' doing blatant insider trading.

The thing is every game is rigged and you must be actually delusional to think otherwise. The "invisible hand" of the free market is real and is there always stacking odds against small and weak.

Nothing preventing the government from buying up lots of bitcoin with its money printer and then periodically dumping some to control the price of bitcoin...

Could do the same with real estate and the stock market...

Source: see gold.

This is why a fixed currency makes sense.

You work and convert your time into currency which can be traded for other goods or services.

When currency is manipulated, it allows the manipulator to make your currency worth more or less. effectively theft.

Use Bitcoin, problem solved

For as much flaws as bitcoin has, this kind of bullshit is the biggest reason why I hope it will ultimately become a more viable form of payment.

I would even use Dogecoin if it came down to it. :)

Or, you know, cash.

Do try to use a cryptocurrency that does not depend on a pollutive proof of work.

What do you mean by “pollutive proof of work?” Are you talking about its environmental impact?

The operation of the Bitcoin network involves wasting a significant amount of energy.

The environmental impact of bitcoin is undeniable, either by polluting through using coal power or by using up renewable energies that could have been used more productively elsewhere.

Of course Bitcoin's energy consumption isn't ideal, but you've got to realize something: Bitcoin mining is only profitable if you have access to very cheap energy. This is why there are so many miners in China that use hydroelectric power, because there's so much excess energy that wouldn't be used otherwise.

Miners don't really use coal power or use up renewable energy that could be used elsewhere. That would be too expensive for them.

Even if Bitcoin only uses CO2-free energy, they hog energy that would be available for other projects, so those projects need to use more coal power in return, hence it creates pollution.

Bitcoin beat every single stock.

And 2000 other speculative investment/currency projects failed

He was a prolific programmer and hacker, that is how he got his start.