Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Friday November 10 2017, @01:38PM   Printer-friendly
from the three-tine-fork dept.

news.bitcoin.com reports that the proposed blocksize increase to 2MB from 1MB of the SegWit2x fork of Bitcoin has been cancelled.

The post states that "the Segwit2x effort began in May with a simple purpose: to increase the blocksize and improve Bitcoin scalability.

[...] [Bitgo CEO, Mike ] Belshe predicts that "as fees rise on the blockchain, we believe it will eventually become obvious that on-chain capacity increases are necessary. When that happens, we hope the community will come together and find a solution, possibly with a blocksize increase. Until then, we are suspending our plans for the upcoming 2MB upgrade."

The term "SegWit2X" is a combination of "Segregated Witness" which offloads some of the transaction data from the blockchain leading to smaller entries and "2X" refers to doubling the block size. More background at Explainer: What Is SegWit2x and What Does It Mean for Bitcoin?.

They further note that the prices surged by more than $500 in the first hour after the announcement and hit a new high of $7900 per coin.

But, as of this being written (2017-11-10 02:50:00 UTC), the price of a bitcoin is back down to $7,254.56.

Related:Will This Battle For The Soul Of Bitcoin Destroy It? - SoylentNews
Saudi Prince Predicts Demise for Bitcoin


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:22PM (15 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @02:22PM (#595124)

    Ponzi scheme.

    It's not a Ponzi scheme at all. It's a pyramid scheme.

    There is no inherent value to any Bitcoin. Unlike fiat currencies, it's not backed by anything. Fiat currencies are at least backed by policies of central banks and their respective economies.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:07PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:07PM (#595139)

    Why are the policies of the central bank a better backing than the policies in the Bitcoin code? Note that the former are much easier to change than the latter.

    The main difference is that the fiat currencies are legal tender in their respective countries. That is, if I'm in the US and want to pay in Dollars, or if I'm in the Euro zone and want to pay in Euros, the other side is required to accept it. If I want to pay in Bitcoin, there's no place in the world which is required to accept it. Also, taxes are paid in fiat money; I'm not aware of any tax office that accepts Bitcoin.

    Note that this is not specific for Bitcoin; the same holds if I want to pay e.g. in gold.

    The biggest risk with Bitcoin is IMHO that it could get forbidden. Note that your Bitcoins will lose their value as soon as you no longer have the ability to legally sell them, nor use them to buy stuff. Sure, the data will still be there, but it will be just that, data.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:25PM (4 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @03:25PM (#595150)

      The quickest way to get BC outlawed is to make a bubble, have it burst, and have a bunch of unhappy 'investors'.

      It seems to me that some strong discouragements to speculation and encouragement to actual uses of BC might help in this area.
      Currently the former waaaay overshadows the later.

      The current trend is a fun ride, but seems contrary to the idea of growing BC into a real, useful thing.

      • (Score: 2) by fishybell on Friday November 10 2017, @04:14PM (3 children)

        by fishybell (3156) on Friday November 10 2017, @04:14PM (#595166)

        This is why I invest in DogeCoin. The only coin where the purpose is more important than the value.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:26PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @04:26PM (#595170)

          Didn't you lose it all recently?

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @08:04PM (1 child)

            by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @08:04PM (#595307)

            No, Dogecoin still has the same value it has always had!

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @09:55PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @09:55PM (#595365)

              Its market cap is $133,610,547 or 20,246 BTC [coinmarketcap.com] right now.

    • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday November 10 2017, @08:45PM

      by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Friday November 10 2017, @08:45PM (#595336) Homepage Journal

      To operate an exchange is a felony punishable by two years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

      --
      Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
  • (Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Friday November 10 2017, @05:03PM (4 children)

    by Fnord666 (652) on Friday November 10 2017, @05:03PM (#595193) Homepage

    Ponzi scheme.

    It's not a Ponzi scheme at all. It's a pyramid scheme.

    In what way?

    A pyramid scheme [wikipedia.org] (commonly known as pyramid scams) is a business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products or services. As recruiting multiplies, recruiting becomes quickly impossible, and most members are unable to profit; as such, pyramid schemes are unsustainable and often illegal.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @05:21PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 10 2017, @05:21PM (#595205)

      Pyramid may be closer to the facts than Ponzi.
      Bubble may be closer still.
      They all have idea that new investors fund returns for previous investors.

      Ponzi seems more central control.
      Pyramid seems more active work of current investors to find new blood.
      Bubble seems more self inflating. Each new investor comes on his own.

      Mr. Madoff's area of expertise might be in how far one of these can go before it won't go.
      For BC to be a real success, it needs to keep going long enough to become actually useful.
      The speculation is not helping this.

      • (Score: 3, Insightful) by bob_super on Friday November 10 2017, @05:47PM (1 child)

        by bob_super (1357) on Friday November 10 2017, @05:47PM (#595224)

        It fits bubble nicely. The people who have invested in it refuse to acknowledge all signs that there is a value realization problem, and keep pushing the prices up.
        When you ignore all the red flags, and dismiss all the friendly advice from people trying to protect you, that typically ends with bruises...

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 12 2017, @07:22PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Sunday November 12 2017, @07:22PM (#595973)

          all business will go on distributed ledger tech of some kind eventually. every drop of water and electron that goes through the pipes and wires. every apple and egg in the store. this is early days for crypto, adoption wise. bubble or no bubble. overall this is just the beginning and that's what matters if you're a hodlr.

      • (Score: 2) by cykros on Monday November 13 2017, @04:31PM

        by cykros (989) on Monday November 13 2017, @04:31PM (#596270)

        If anything it has gotten less useful as more interest has arisen in it. I used to occasionally use it as a currency at high points, either to pay for VPN services or get delivery food on Foodler, but with the rising interest and valuation the fees have gotten to a point where you start questioning your sanity if you're using it as anything but an investment tool (and a high risk one at that.)

        Ethereum I'm a little more hopeful for. Currency utility or not, the whole distributed Turing machine aspect of it strikes me as a very promising idea.

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday November 10 2017, @08:47PM (2 children)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Friday November 10 2017, @08:47PM (#595338) Homepage Journal

    However I have finally conceded that others believe it is money, and that they are willing to pay absurd amounts of sound money for it.

    That's why I plan to buy a bitcoin when my client pays me, which is Real Soon Now because my code is within a few days of beta.

    Provided the bubble has not burst, I plan to buy another when when my product ships.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by JNCF on Sunday November 12 2017, @06:00AM (1 child)

      by JNCF (4317) on Sunday November 12 2017, @06:00AM (#595845) Journal

      If there is a bubble, and Bitcoin has actual use value apart from that bubble, you'd be better to buy after the bubble has burst than before.

      I suspect that there is a bubble in the present, but that bitcoins have the potential to have a higher use value in the future than even the current bubble accounts for. Whether the bubble bursts tomorrow or in six months, and whether the price falls to a level below the current valuation when that bubble bursts, I am almost entirely agnostic on.

      • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday November 12 2017, @06:26AM

        by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Sunday November 12 2017, @06:26AM (#595852) Homepage Journal

        I can buy more if I can get some of it back to pay expenses.

        I'm unsure how much I will spend but I'm going to sell some each week. I'm not just going to "invest" my every penny.

        During the dot-com boom there was some guy who borrowed from hundreds - I AM ABSOLUTELY SERIOUS - of credit cards, then bought .com stock with it.

        All over the walls of his home were sticky notes that reminded him of when payments were due and how much.

        --
        Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]