this post was submitted on 27 Feb 2024
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Fiat currency is controlled by the government over which we have a bit of power (for those of us who live in a democracy).
Bitcoin is by definition controlled by those who have the power and thus the money to mine. It's a bit like democracy only that the more money you have the more votes you have.
that's how proof of stake works too. more money, more votes
Bitcoin was specifically designed so no small group of actors has the power. That's also one of the reasons it's so hard to introduce any fundamental changes to it. Too many groups of people would have to reach a consensus on the new rules. Since each one of them is following their own set of incentives, they keep each other in check.
Exactly, in the best case a shitty form of democracy.
You have zero power as a citizen over the currency you use. You do not directly vote for the Central bankers, Federal Reserve board, etc. Even the politicians you might vote for who appoint them will almost always side in their own favor than their constituents. I'd hardly believe a word a politician ever utters. Just look at all the lies and false promising during the campaigns of the last 5 presidents and what they actually accomplished. Biden and college debt as a more recent example.
You are also confusing Bitcoin's Proof of Work with a shitcoin's Proof of Stake, which is where wealth gives you more votes. As for the hash rate you're contributing as a miner, there's no additional power you're given. Even if you attempted to 51% attack the network, it'd be gaining nothing beyond a double-spend by rewriting the blockchain transaction. Likely causing the currency's price to crash. Zero financial incentives for any rich people to do that, unless they're part of a nation-state hoping to try and destroy the currency.
I didn't say it's perfect, but it's not zero power.
Proof of stake is arguably even worse, but the energy required for proof of work isn't free either (and that's by design, if it was free Bitcoin wouldn't work).
There is more than double spending. Who decides how Bitcoin evolves? When new features are added, hard forks, etc. How much power do you have over that?
https://www.bitcoin.com/get-started/what-is-bitcoin-governance/#what-is-a-bitcoin-hard-fork
How ever you turn it, at best it's a shitty version of democracy.
Fundamentally money is all about trust, and I, despite all it's flaws trust my government much more than a random group of developers and miners.
Which is why focusing on Bitcoin is a red herring. The power consumption issue with crypto was solved a long time ago, and has now shown for years that it's viable on a massive scale (ETH). People need to stop acting like Proof of Work is all that exists.
So much for nuance. This place is just like reddit: black and white.
proof of stake is a ponzi scheme
And fiat currency isn't how...? It's just backed by a central bank/authority. That's the only thing that gives it value.
did I say it isn't?
We focus on Bitcoin because even though there are plenty of better alternatives, it is still the biggest crypto on the market by a long shot.