bitcoin is a trustless-system
anyone who wants to can run a node
all nodes must run identical code or be rejected from the network
51% of all nodes must change their code in order for the code to change
everyone can see all the code
no individual human has to trust any "authority" to tell them what is in the code
no individual human has to trust any other individual human to transfer bitcoin to another account
because the code can be trusted because the code is transparent
and because it would take an enormous amount of consensus in order to change the code
unlike hive and steem and blurt which only requires the consensus of 18 or so individuals
and in the steem case, one individual running 18 nodes
and in the hive case, maybe three individuals and 15 sycophants
As ingenious as this Satoshi system is, it turned out that it is only possible for a few to buy bitcoins. This eliminates it as a usable system for the general public, doesn't it?
Since mining bitcoins involves immense energy expenditure, it is not a very economically viable system from this point of view either.
It seems to me that it is a fascinating theoretical possibility of transfers via electronic means.
For those who perceive the digital world as a Janus-faced sphere, or the negative aspects, it may well be seen as threatening. From what I have read, the fiat money system seems to be down and the economic forces are doing everything they can to keep it alive. Some believe that Bitcoin is the salvation from this. I know too little to be able to judge that.
amazon aws (webhosting) uses MORE electricity than all "bitcoin mining"
it seems a bit strange that everyone is so concerned about "immense energy expenditure" for bitcoin, but not for the "immense energy expenditure" of building banks and running delivery trucks and running bank servers and running stock-market servers and running google servers and running aws...
I don't think you're talking about me? In fact, everything you mentioned consumes a lot of energy. The sum of all this seems to be worrying. I don't know any solutions or answers to it.
the "immense energy expenditure" of bitcoin is a point in its favor
because it proves bitcoin is more valuable than electricity
anybody with $100 can by an uncensorable fraction of a bitcoin
no, anyone with an email address can receive bitcoin
you can send as little as one quarter of one eighth of a pfennig
What could I do with a fraction of a bitcoin?
hold on to it and wait for it to 10X
or donate it to your favorite wikileaks project or other censored organization
100%