Re:Distributed Ledgers Part I: Bitcoin is dead
by csomar on Saturday August 29, 2015 @12:43PM
(#10140567)
I'm pointing to Bitcoin utility and possible applications. Sure you can have a great idea, or philosophy but that doesn't mean people will adopt it or it'll be successful.
Re:Distributed Ledgers Part I: Bitcoin is dead
by jsprogrammer on Saturday August 29, 2015 @11:59AM
(#10140410)
Aren't miners middlemen? And don't they take a toll?
Re:Distributed Ledgers Part I: Bitcoin is dead
by brighton36 on Saturday August 29, 2015 @12:07PM
(#10140437)
I don't agree with most/all of ilaksh's points. But it is worth noting that miners are 100% fungible, which reduces their ability to extract economic rent in the process. In effect "being a middleman" has been rendered a substitutable commodity.
Re:Distributed Ledgers Part I: Bitcoin is dead
by _red on Saturday August 29, 2015 @12:11PM
(#10140449)
Without miners there would be no certification of the blockchain. This is pretty much the central point of the technology.
Calling them middlemen couldn't be more wrongheaded.
Its like calling farmers "middlemen" because after all the sun / seeds ultimately grow the plant.
Re:Distributed Ledgers Part I: Bitcoin is dead
by dragontamer on Saturday August 29, 2015 @12:07PM
(#10140438)
The other middlemen are the hoarders. If BTC inflates in value, then the hoarders will benefit.
BTC obscures the middlemen. It doesn't remove them.
Bitcoin is money without the middleman or bank, which is a huge advance in the fight against centralization and elitism which is arguably one of humanity's biggest challenges.
So you painted it in an immoral light, when in fact it is a great moral cause.