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from the first-they-ignore-you-then-they-laugh-at-you-then-they-fight-you dept.
As someone that follows the developments in Bitcoinland closely, it has been difficult to find an article that does a good job of summarizing the drama surrounding the community. This Forbes article (Google Cache) only scratches the surface, but does a good job doing so:
On or around November 16, Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency created by a novel technology called blockchain — a masterpiece of game theory, cryptography and, of all things, the age-old ledger — will split into two chains, each with its own set of coins. Hodlers [Note: 'hodl' - is a meme that started here] should be happy about suddenly owning double the number of Bitcoins except for the fact that the question of which of these will be called the true Bitcoin is, for now, up in the air — and that could create turmoil in the market. Anyone willing to bet their money by selling one set of coins for another stands to take a financial hit — either because they've picked the wrong side, or, for technical reasons, because selling one set may actually cause a sale on both sides of the chain.
[...] How the first cryptocurrency reached this cliffhanger in its journey is a story that has been many years in the making and finally pits against each other what were strange bedfellows anyway: the cypherpunks who, years before Bitcoin even existed, developed the various technologies that finally resulted in the first true digital asset and the Silicon Valley types who popularized the cryptocurrency that now has at least tens of millions of users and a $100 billion market cap. Whether one side will prevail or their death match will destroy Bitcoin is anyone's guess.
Is this how Bitcoin finally dies? (This bitcoiner thinks bitcoin will be wounded, but will live on.)
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 25 2017, @07:55PM (3 children)
That is pretty much the exact opposite of reality.
The basic rule: You want inflation if you're a borrower, and deflation if you're a lender. The oligarchs are, for the most part, lenders - that's how lots of banks and even non-banks like GM and hospitals make their money. The middle class and poor are mostly borrowers (the main difference being the middle class is much more likely to have collateral like their house or car). As an example, let's say you've borrowed $1000 for 1 year at a fixed rate of 5% APR, and to simplify the math it's all due in 1 lump sum at the end of the year. Now, the loan terms were written in nominal values, so you have to pay back $1050 regardless of what $1050 is actually worth in today's dollars. So if there's high inflation, say 15%, then you actually are going to pay back $900 worth, which is rather nice for you. If there's 15% deflation, on the other hand, you're going to have to pay back $1200 worth.
Now, the banks aren't stupid, so they try to predict inflation and factor that into the interest rates, but they'd be perfectly happy to see the actual inflation rates end up lower than their predictions.
The reason you think inflation is the source of the problem probably has more to do with your wage or salary not being adjusted for inflation. What should be happening is that your employer can sell things at, say, 3% more after the year is up, so to keep you at roughly the same salary level s/he gives you a 3% cost-of-living raise. That's not happening because there's a surplus of labor in most fields in most places, so supply and demand is driving all wages down. The careers that aren't experiencing those sorts of problems are fields that artificially create shortages like doctors, and management because they're the ones deciding who gets paid how much.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by jmorris on Thursday October 26 2017, @12:05AM (1 child)
That rule applies in most cases. It applies in every case but one, the case where you are the one inflating. Printing money is a tax on everyone holding the currency being printed. The 'lender of last resort' is also the printer of new money so they win both ways.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday October 26 2017, @11:56PM
If you're the Fed, you don't want to inflate the currency too much, because if you do the profits on your loans goes down. That said, any profits the Fed manages to make go right into the US Treasury, which means that's taxes we don't need to pay. And unlike private banks, the Fed board that makes these decisions can't give themselves raises whenever they feel like it.
I get that you can't stand fiat currency, but there's no evidence to suggest that the Fed is trying to wreck the US dollar. After all, if they really wreck the dollar, they will be among those up against the wall because the revolution came.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 26 2017, @05:32AM
one thing you forgot to mention: in many European countries, there are laws about salaries being raised with the inflation rate, at least for public sector workers.