• HumanOnEarth@lemmy.ca
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    1 day ago

    Bitcoin is way too easy to control.

    Bitcoin is the hardest form of money in existence to control. Manipulation is not control. I’m pretty sure you’re thinking of manipulation.

    State actors could quite easily acquire enough hash power to take over the network

    With respect, you need to learn more about how Bitcoin works, in particular the concept of “difficulty” and also options for defending against bad actors. Or you think the decade and a half plus Bitcoin has been running, not one single person/entity/state actor would try it?

    mining is too concentrated already

    TOO concentrated? No, otherwise Bitcoin wouldn’t exist anymore. Could it be less concentrated? For sure. Couldn’t the power the polticians and banks have be less concentrated? And it’s within most people’s means to be part of the solution against mining concentration…see: OCEAN pool for one.

    Most people don’t want to be their own bank.

    Most people don’t. Having bitcoin doesn’t mean you have to be your own bank. Just that you have that option if and when the need arises. It’s not one extreme (be your own bank) or the other (reject bitcoin entirely).

    what do you do if someone breaks into your house and threatens to shoot you if you don’t hand over your keys?

    Well, what do you do if someone breaks into your house and threatens to shoot you if you don’t hand over your cash, credit cards, and valuable possessions? I for one could a) say that I don’t memorise my keys and they are stored outside of my home, b) give them keys to a duress wallet. What can you do?

    I can’t say Bitcoin is the only solution to things, but it’s by far the best tool we’ve been given so far. My argument has always been, the only way Bitcoin dies is if the whole advanced world works together to ban it. And if you think the whole world is going to cooperate on anything when self-interest and game theory heavily incentivizes involvement…

    Just take some time to learn about how it works, not just “what it is”. That’s what holds people back.

    • ctrl_alt_esc@lemmy.ml
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      14 hours ago

      You’re clearly still in the honeymoon phase, so I won’t argue further. I know how Bitcoin works and all my points stand. In any case, this thread isn’t about crypto, but about banking. As the other person noted, having credit cards in your home is obviously not the same as BTC keys…

      • HumanOnEarth@lemmy.ca
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        14 hours ago

        I know how Bitcoin works and all my points stand

        Lol. No all my points stand.

        I’ve had this conversation 100 times.

    • isleepinahammock@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      21 hours ago

      Most people don’t. Having bitcoin doesn’t mean you have to be your own bank. Just that you have that option if and when the need arises. It’s not one extreme (be your own bank) or the other (reject bitcoin entirely).

      Then there’s no god damn point. Bitcoin at a Bitcoin bank is just a regular bank with an incredibly, comically inefficient transaction tracking system.

      Well, what do you do if someone breaks into your house and threatens to shoot you if you don’t hand over your cash, credit cards, and valuable possessions?

      Cash and possessions are one thing, but that’s not how most people keep their real financial assets. A thief can steal my credit card all they want. They’re not getting much use out of it.