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Linux Inventor Says He Doesn’t Believe in Crypto (u.today)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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  • Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, does not believe in cryptocurrencies, calling them a vehicle for scams and a Ponzi scheme.
  • Torvalds was once rumored to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, but he clarified it was a joke and denied owning a Bitcoin fortune.
  • Torvalds also dismissed the idea of technological singularity as a bedtime story for children, saying continuous exponential growth does not make sense.
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[–] 4 points 2 years ago (21 children)

Good luck bribing someone with something that requires an electronics and communications infrastructure if things get that bad. I'd keep chickens if that was your worry.

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (20 children)

    No power or infrastructure required.

    https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Casascius_physical_bitcoins

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (19 children)

    They can no longer be purchased.

    Not exactly apocalypse-proof.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (18 children)

    While the ones that do exist still exist, and that's not to say that somebody couldn't create other things that were similar. Just as long as the private key is not peeled away, then you know it's actually got the value it says. And you don't need the internet to verify that.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (17 children)

    Okay, so let's say the country's economy has collapsed. People are fleeing for the border. I go up to a border guard with one of those and hand it to him... do you really think he's going to believe that has value?

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  • [–] 0 points 2 years ago (16 children)

    Really depends on the country. If you are fleeing somewhere like the United States, there's about a one in four chance that it would be recognized. If you're fleeing some other place that has had currency issues in the past, then it's probably quite a bit higher.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (15 children)

    there’s about a one in four chance that it would be recognized.

    That is utter nonsense. You show me where you got that figure from.

    Or do you just mean the Bitcoin symbol? Because I doubt someone would assume a metal coin had value just because it had a Bitcoin symbol on it.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (14 children)

    https://monero.town/comment/4613276

    Edit: You are right. My bad. It's more like a one in five. Not a one in four.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (13 children)

    I'm not sure what you think that proves about whether or not a border guard would accept a metal coin that the briber claims has a value in Bitcoin. The guard could have $100 million in a Bitcoin wallet and still say, "this is some kind of bullshit trick." Why wouldn't someone try to trick a border guard like that if they were desperate.

    So basically, you'd have to hope this border guard would either be one of the very small number of people (hardly a quarter of Americans) who would look at a metal coin with a Bitcoin symbol on it and decide it has value to them.

    Again, seems like chickens would be a better bet.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (12 children)

    Well, there aren't many of those around. So if it's recognized, then the person would know to look for a QR code on it. And if it has not been destroyed by peeling the hologram off, then they will know it's good. Seems like bribing a border guard with chickens would be kind of difficult. Just for the noise they would make and the space they would take up. You might be able to pass them an ounce of gold or something. That might be a possibility.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago* (11 children)

    So if it’s recognized

    Yes, this is my point. It almost certainly won't be.

    Seems like bribing a border guard with chickens would be kind of difficult.

    Put chicken in car, drive to border, take out chicken, give to guard.

    Just for the noise they would make and the space they would take up.

    So this is a societal collapse where chickens are made illegal?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (10 children)

    Hey, 1/5 to 1/4 arent terrible odds. Even if they haven't used it, there's a damn good chance they've heard of it. If they've heard of it, then they know it has value.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (9 children)

    Again, your '1/5 to 1/4' is based on people who understand what Bitcoin is, not based on people who would see that coin and think it has value. Stop being dishonest.

    You show me evidence that these metal coins, which, again, are no longer available for purchase, are something even most people who own Bitcoin know about and think has value.

    Also, I'm guessing more than 1/4 of the people who are food insecure because society has collapsed know the value of a chicken.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (8 children)

    That 1 in 5 to 1 in 4 is the amount of people who have actively used crypto in some form. Everybody almost has heard about it and knows it has value, even if it's to give it to somebody else.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Yet again, that doesn't mean they think these metal coins have value.

    Stop conflating the two. It's dishonest.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (6 children)

    The metal coin has a private key embedded underneath a hologram. The private key has never touched the internet. And so if you throw it away, that value is lost forever. So the metal coin in and of itself does have value. As long as you can physically see that the hologram has not been peeled away and the private key exposed, which would be a dead giveaway, that it has been swept and is no longer of any value.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (5 children)

    And you think you have a one in four chance of a border guard realizing that?

    Because, again, if society is collapsing, food will be insecure, and far more than one in four people know you can eat a chicken. In fact, I would say four in four people know you can eat a chicken.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (4 children)

    Well, if the average intelligence level I see around me... They might not know a chicken is edible. LOL. However, only more serious note. It doesn't seem like it all goes down at once. I mean, people in Venezuela have issues for sure, but they just take their money as soon as they get it and put it into something else that will retain their value. So we won't go from an ordered stable society to Mad Max where everybody's stealing chickens from preppers in one day. It would take years to get there.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Ah, so this is a societal collapse where you have to bribe a border guard to get out of the country but where food is secure. I see. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works in Venezuela, so can you give an actual example of such a situation?

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    At least from what I understand, Cuba.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

    Can you provide an example of someone getting out of Cuba by bribing a guard with a metal coin representing a certain Bitcoin value?

    Because, believe it or not, I've met plenty of Cubans who just got on an airplane.

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