So, I was sharing (several) bottles of fine shiraz with my neighbor opposite this evening. He is 80 and very much interested in the state of the world financial system. For some reason he thinks I know something about it. Anyway, he is a bit stressed that his $1m share portfolio is worth 18% less than a couple of years ago. A few glasses gets me going about the evils of fractional reserve banking and he is well attuned to the piratical nature of retail banks. I did explain BTC to him when it was $30 and he was all ready to buy, but frankly I didn't want to keep the private key for his holding. He would have simply lost it. So we let the idea drop, but he still asks how "internet money" is doing. He points out that its been going quite a few years now. (7.2 to be exact).
I explain that there is a crisis. "What!" he says, "Governments are trying to stop it?" No, some governments like it, many aren't bothered either way, some big companies like Microsoft are involved. "So, what is the problem?" he asks. The problem is from within, a group of technical people who know all about how it works, but have zero clues about economics and they think they can drive it in a certain direction. I say that they will drive it to ruin instead. "How many countries are backing you?" Well, we have two thousand out of six thousand nodes, but the power is not in the nodes its in the computing power to secure the transactions, and this is mostly in China. "How much is that? Isn't it in the States?" No. There is a huge warehouse full of computers in Washington State and it is hardly a blip on the radar of mining power.
"That much?"
Yeah we need the Chinese to understand what is in their best interests. We need to get the whole project back on track.
He said "Good luck. I know you guys will do it. Beat those fuckers."
