Gold collapsing. Bitcoin UP.

[freetrader]

> UK Gambling Commission Views Bitcoin as Cash Equivalent

They actually read the whitepaper? That brightens up my weekend

 

[Zangelbert Bingledack]

The "the altcoins are coming" fears are running particularly high on /r/btc today.

Meanwhile, /r/Bitcoin can't seem to figure out why transactions are decreasing.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4xhx5b/blocks_are_not_full_anymore_why/

 

[freetrader]

Half of that is a real problem, the other half is manufactured opinion making against the term 'altcoin' (or misguided Bitcoin maximalists riding on what they think are benefits of the term).

It's inevitable that Bitcoin hard fork / spin-off implementations will be denounced as altcoins.
Then those maximalist big blockers will be caught by the short and curlies.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nine_Men's_Morris_with_dice_in_Libro_de_los_juegos.jpg

 

[solex]

BS-Core and Gregonomics stupidity is killing Bitcoin's network effect stone dead. New users can come in when old users give up. Not only has growth in usage for cash transactions stalled out, now the smart contract space is being handed away on a platter:

Blockchain Trials Accelerate as South America Sees Ethereum Uptake

Bitcoin's own 2nd layer services such as Rootstock and Counterparty are also crippled with the on-chain volume limit.

 

[freetrader]

Safety belt on:

https://np.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4x93y4/refining_jeff_garziks_proposal_to_apply_trls_to/

Well, this went differently than I expected.
No replies to that post in NK. None whatsoever. 0 comments, 0 removed (according to ceddit - archive proof).

With a subscriber count of ~660 present at the time, which was at least 3x that of /r/btc. Yet the proposal at least got some challenging responses on /r/btc.

What does that tell me? That the subscriber count in NK is vastly inflated by bots and drones that don't have anything to contribute to the discussion, but are just there for other purposes. The few actual intelligent small blockers left there do not comment on unorthodox proposals in order not to give them any visibility. It's a good sign that they do not try to fight this - yet. It looks like their capacities for rational debate are severely strained.

 

[freetrader]

Arrrr. Bitcoin is being slaughtered.

https://np.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4xhx5b/blocks_are_not_full_anymore_why/

 

[Zangelbert Bingledack]

Just took a 4-hour spin around the DNM subreddits to check for signs of Bitcoin network effect loss.

I found not a single mention of transaction issues or high fees (didn't search, just browsed the past month of top posts and their comments). Bitcoin was mentioned every time payment came up, never altcoins - except one poster saying he came into $20,000 of Dogecoin and wanted to know if anyone accepted them. A couple of vendors chimed in to say they accept Doge, Litecoin, and one said Dash, but the response was overwhelmingly "convert them to BTC then go nuts."

I assume the reason blocks aren't as full is seasonal and due to consolidation due to higher fees; DNM users aren't being deterred at all yet. The network effect can take a lot of abuse, I suspect. Not that we should be pushing it...

 

[freetrader]

https://np.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/4xizll/blockstream_welcoming_new_people_to_the_team/

Dang, I had hopes for C. Decker and his (or his team's?) PeerCensus / MicroPayment ideas.
Seems a shame he joined Blockstream to work on Lightning.

https://np.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/4xhmst/so_my_wife_had_lunch_with_a_bunch_of_lawyers/

 

[solex]

@Zangelbert Bingledack
Interesting reading your observations about DNM. As you conclude, there is robustness in network effects, an inertia to change. I suppose that having reached a plateau there is no immediate cause for decline. DNM are long regarded as high-fee tolerant, like gambling and international transfers. So we can expect bitcoin usage to be "sticky" for those uses. I just looked at tradeblock and recent blocks are very full again.

Some new users who are not high-fee tolerant, perhaps just learning about Bitcoin or doing their first 0-conf transaction, such as buying a beer at a BTC accepting bar, will be unimpressed with the cost of their transaction, and not bother again. I read an anecdote about how someone described Bitcoin to a friend, set him up a wallet and sent $5 of BTC. It never confirmed in a reasonable time, so his friend went away unimpressed. This could be happening a hundred times a day and we don't hear about it.

 

[Peter R]

"Core intends to disrupt the p2p network with their upcoming release." -- Tom Zander

https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/4xkqbk/core_intends_to_disrupt_the_p2p_network_with/

 

[Richy_T]

The network effect can take a lot of abuse, I suspect. Not that we should be pushing it...

Perhaps think of the network effect as a vacuum, pulling people in. Bitcoin's network is the biggest at the moment, drawing people in but since it can't grow, it is as Solex says, people have to leave before new can join. Meanwhile, the networks of the alts continue to grow and as soon as one surpasses Bitcoin's, it will start sucking users out of Bitcoin's network. Then the real fun starts.

 

[bluemoon]

"Core intends to disrupt the p2p network with their upcoming release." -- Tom Zander

https://www.reddit.com/r/btc/comments/4xkqbk/core_intends_to_disrupt_the_p2p_network_with/

Core's utter disregard for other implementations is intended to demoralise the other dev teams and perhaps also to intimidate the miners.

 

[freetrader]

What can I say about this absurd refusal to co-operate on the p2p layer? It's ridiculous.

 

[megadeth]

Mentally preparing for a Bitcoin hard fork.
Investing with confidence, since I control my private keys.

 

[theZerg]

You can't make this stuff up:
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/issues/8500#issuecomment-239651026

Wladimir responds to the Compact Blocks enum issue saying that the BIP process is for "all development on the bitcoin network, including yours", but then LOCKS the thread so only Bitcoin Core devs can contribute!

I guess actions speak louder than words, don't they.

 

[Richy_T]

There's a reason for the saying "One bad apple spoils the whole barrel". Once the rot gets in there, it spreads and spreads.

 

[freetrader]

That is why the true development process of Bitcoin has no gatekeepers.

Bitcoin is the Gateless Gate of currencies.

The thus-gone may of course come and go as they please (*), but they are under no coercion.

(*) in/out of the realm of permissioned currencies

 

[freetrader]

A why-dont-you-do-fork-as-a-sidechain proposal:

https://www.reddit.com/r/btcfork/comments/4xmhvp/noncontentious_alternative_to_a_fork_symbiosis/

I love this, all sorts of interesting proposals coming into existence.

I'm very curious about the opinions of other BU team members about this submission, since it claims to be "Unleashing Full On-Chain Utility Of Bitcoin Unlimited"

 

[Zarathustra]

There's a reason for the saying "One bad apple spoils the whole barrel". Once the rot gets in there, it spreads and spreads.

"At the end of the day, when Tom, Roger, Peter, and whoever the hell /u/ydtm is all talk, they demonstrate two important things: they know what the fuck they're talking about, and they're open to the idea that they might be wrong. When you talk, you don't demonstrate that you understand what you're talking about."


Odds of winning a dispute against u/ydtm and u/chernobyl169 is near zero.

 

[Tsontar]

The network effect can take a lot of abuse, I suspect. Not that we should be pushing it...

It's crazy, we should be encouraging what others call "spam".

"Build it and they will come." You have to allow an ecosystem of businesses to ride the gravy train, then one day you wake up and everyone wants some more of that good good gravy.