Decentralized Thought
3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2018–2022
9:11 · 184K views · Dec 15, 2017
A 2017 video arguing that banks and Blockstream steered Bitcoin toward the Lightning Network. It is partisan commentary from the Bitcoin Cash side of the scaling dispute.
HN mentions are thin and mostly cite it in Lightning Network discussions, as a reference point for that critical viewpoint rather than a recommendation.
3 comments from Hacker News
The author describes how coyotes win the "skirmish game" when they casually walk into suburban yards and demonstrate that they are not afraid of the humans when they do things to scare them away such as make loud noises at them. However, they lose the "meta-game" when animal control shows up and puts them down because they won't go away. The author uses this analogy to compare coyotes to financial innovators. His argument is that every time financial innovation gets out of control and the economy at large is impacted, larger powers step in and squash it. He argues tha this is what happened in the 2008 financial crisis with mortage backed securities, and that this is the same thing happening now with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. I disagree with the parallel he draws to cryptocurrencies. While I don't necessarily think cryptocurrencies will dominate the world, and Governments may even succeed in reigning them in, they aren't in the same category as other financial innovation. Mortgage backed securites were the coyotes stalking across the laws of suburban moms, hoping animal control wouldn't interfere. Cryptocurrencies are a coordinated attack by a pack of coyotes on animal control headquarters. They were designed specifically to be as government-resistant as possible. Now, animal control has a lot of firepower and they can call in reinforcements. Governments have a lot of resources and powers they can draw on to stop and regulate cryptocurrencies. However, these coyotes are we
As someone who is more familiar with BCH rhetoric, I can tell you that what the parent comment is referring to is not mining companies but rather LN relay node operators and other "services" this video
> If you want faster and cheaper transactions, use lightning network, it's functional and growing in adoption. this video