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this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2026
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Cool, so I can head down to the grocery store and use it?
Can you use us dollars in a grocery store in the eu? Does that mean the dollar has no value?
I'm pointing out that while global society has already agreed on the value of goverent issued currencies, they already function as one.
At best crypto has two use cases:
That is it. I can't use it as Any sort of real currency because the vast majority of people/enterprises don't recognize it. For something to be a real currency it must be usable as such.
What we have is pretend money that destroys the environment for no real reason.
Bitcoin uses a public ledger making it a terrible choice for crimes. While not everyone wants to directly accept bitcoin there are exchanges throughout the world happy to exchange it for local currency. Bitcoin is not backed by violence like state currencies. It takes time for a new form of value to gain widespread acceptance.
Gold was used as a currency for thousands of years but you can’t use it at a local grocery store either.
Bitcoin’s value is backed by math and computers and that is somehow worse than the energy and violence used by governments?
The public ledger is irrelevant. I don’t need any credentials to sign up for 1 or 1k accounts. Yes it can be tracked, but someone with a modicum of skill could make it extremely difficult.
Backed by, no, used by, absolutely.
That is largely irrelevant. Like crypto, I can’t take it to the grocery store. It no longer functions as a currency. That is cool, but don’t conflate it.
My dude, don’t pretend computing and math are magic. We are breaking some fucking hashes. Your perception of value of a broken hash doesn’t translate into actual utility.
Please pass me a dose of your soma.
You are arguing in favor of government control of money and arguing I’m high? Ok buddy. Sure thing.
It has utility. Something that crypto currently lacks.
My dude, you were literally whispering math and compute as though they are magic words.
The algorithms aren't even terribly interesting.
A hash function is still math independent of your interest. Bitcoin is the first currency that has self emerged without being mandated by the state. Feel free to ignore it.
It is a boring application of existing hash functions to create a really inefficient data structure. It is impractical for just about a everything including currency, and if crypto took off the hard limits on transactions (iirc) would make its use quite difficult.
I live in an objective universe that I have relatively little control over. My employer won't pay me in it, and I can't go down to the supermarket and buy a loaf of bread with it to feed my family. No one can compel you to use any particular words, but there really isn't a basis for me to think of it as an actual currency beyond being a novelty.
The spices in my cabinet would have functioned as more of a currency in our shared history than what crypto could ever accomplish, but I don't expect my employer to give me sage, either.