Stats for nerds
4recommend
10mentions
5people
2018–2025years
80% recommend20% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- To understand Bitcoin you need to forget the technology and first understand the problem. You need to understand what caused the 2008 financial crisis and how it resulted in us collectively funnelling more value into the hands of useless bankers. You need to understand that there are people who are literally spending their days playing games with each other, trading bits of paper and making silly deals and bets. If you don't understand the word "literally" or don't believe it, read more, study harder. If you don't understand a zero sum game or how this nonsense fucks up the lives of regular people, read more.
Read The Big Short by Michael Lewis. You could even start with the film by Adam McKay who also gets it. Then read Other People's Money by John Kay.
Only once you understand the problem can you begin to understand why a trustless digital cash would be good for us. Bitcoin is simply the first viable solution to the problem. If you can come up with a better one you'll change the world.
- I did work in the industry briefly and can confirm it is actually full of people who would post a comment like this. Just in case anyone needed another reason to avoid it!
Work on real problems. Try to make real people's lives better and happier. There are real problems in finance but my feeling was it's all very simple and solved decades ago, now it's just pointless complexity that isn't solving anyone's problems. I recommend John Kay's Other People's Money for a primer on what finance is actually good for and where it's gone wrong.
The real big problem in finance IMO is digital cash. Bitcoin started out trying to solve that problem, and there are still some people in the community interested in it, but it's mostly of interest to the finance guys now. Just another "instrument" in their "portfolios".
- > Work on real problems. Try to make real people's lives better and happier. There are real problems in finance but my feeling was it's all very simple and solved decades ago, now it's just pointless complexity that isn't solving anyone's problems. I recommend John Kay's Other People's Money for a primer on what finance is actually good for and where it's gone wrong.
If the last few years have taught me anything it's that a large % of the population will actively aim to make their own lives worse long term because they are told lies. What benefit is there really in trying to undo their own self-inflicted damage.
- > Private companies collect basically a tax on almost all transactions in our economy.
Forget transactions, they collect a tax on almost all money in the economy. Something like 97% of money in circulation is simply bank loans (like mortgages) that haven't been paid back yet.
I encourage anyone to walk around a financial district somewhere and really think about what it's all for. On the inside of some of those buildings there might be people, but they aren't doing much. On the inside of many there aren't even any people.
Finance definitely has value, but is it really that much? It's a fraction of what they take.
How they get away with it is the interesting part. There's just something about money. There will always be a very large part of the population who just don't get it. Then there are some who excel with it. It brings out the worst in many and it downright scares the rest. All that's clear is we need to get a grip on it. Bitcoin was the latest attempt.
I can't recommend enough the book Other People's Money by John Kay.
- It's not a deflection. I'm saying the whole thing is a disaster. Crypto and NFTs are just the surface and are quite rightly causing people to question the meaning of it all. But if you dig a little deeper you'll find it's just an extension of what's been going on for a long time behind closed doors.
I thoroughly recommend the book Other People's Money by John Kay. In it he reminds us what the actual value of the financial system is and talks about what it has become. Bitcoin was an attempt to get the actual value of cash (just one facets of finance) without paying tax (interest) to the banks.
- Imagine I have a bit of paper and I tell you in 3 years time, someone will want to buy this piece of paper for 10 million. I will sell it to you for 1 million now. If you believe me, it would be stupid to decline this offer.
Here it's explained in comedy form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiJa9diJOMk
You can also watch the film The Big Short for another view into finance.
The most important thing to grasp is, don't think this can't be true because it's so stupid. It's exactly as stupid as it sounds.
For a more serious look, listen to John Kay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX3E-CbY1uE Or read the corresponding book Other People's Money.
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