It's fashinating: w/ negligible exceptions, almost every single line that you can read on newspapers about Bitcoin & related topics are ABSOLUTELY wrong/false. Not just slightly incorrect or oversimplified: the complete, exact OPPOSITE of reality!
My favourites:
My favourites:
1) "Miners use computers capable of solving VERY COMPLEX computations!"
No, those "computers" solve one of the LEAST COMPLEX you could imagine: just guessing random numbers. Pretty simple. Then they have to check them against a SHA2 function, just like any other non-mining node.
No, those "computers" solve one of the LEAST COMPLEX you could imagine: just guessing random numbers. Pretty simple. Then they have to check them against a SHA2 function, just like any other non-mining node.
2) "Mining hardware VALIDATES transactions, ensuring they respect Bitcoin's rules!"
No, mining hardware doesn't validate ANYTHING at all. It just receive (hopefully validated) transactions from full nodes: sometimes the farm operator's one, more often the mining pool's one.
No, mining hardware doesn't validate ANYTHING at all. It just receive (hopefully validated) transactions from full nodes: sometimes the farm operator's one, more often the mining pool's one.
3) "If somebody controls 51% of hashrate, he controls Bitcoin!"
No, even if somebody controls 100% of hashrate he still cannot turn invalid transactions into valid (stealing, inflating, changing rules). W/ >50%, he can just CENSOR transactions, in the future in the past (reorg).
No, even if somebody controls 100% of hashrate he still cannot turn invalid transactions into valid (stealing, inflating, changing rules). W/ >50%, he can just CENSOR transactions, in the future in the past (reorg).
4) "Blockchains are more efficient, faster & cheaper than traditional, centralized technologies. We can replace them to save costs & time!"
No, "blockchains" are LESS efficient, SLOWER & more EXPENSIVE (to run but also to setup/mantain) than traditional centralized technologies.
No, "blockchains" are LESS efficient, SLOWER & more EXPENSIVE (to run but also to setup/mantain) than traditional centralized technologies.
5) "Blockchains are EFFICIENT, FAST & CHEAP compared to traditional centralized technologies. We can replace the latter w/ the former to save costs & time!"
No: "blockchains" are INEFFICIENT, SLOW & EXPENSIVE (to run but also to setup/mantain) compared to traditional technology.
No: "blockchains" are INEFFICIENT, SLOW & EXPENSIVE (to run but also to setup/mantain) compared to traditional technology.
6) "Blockchains use encryption & they are PRIVATE, compared to traditional centralized technologies. We can use them to encrypt/protect sensitive data!"
No: "blockchains" are generally unencrypted, cleartext, PUBLIC to EVERYBODY & FOREVER, terrible for privacy/confidentiality.
No: "blockchains" are generally unencrypted, cleartext, PUBLIC to EVERYBODY & FOREVER, terrible for privacy/confidentiality.
7) "Bitcoin can be surpassed, but the underpinning blockchain tech is revolutionary (cf. 5&6). We should research blockchain w/o Bitcoin!"
No: blockchains can be surpassed (cf. 5&6), but the underpinning bitcoin asset is revolutionary. We are researching Bitcoin w/o blockchain.
No: blockchains can be surpassed (cf. 5&6), but the underpinning bitcoin asset is revolutionary. We are researching Bitcoin w/o blockchain.
8) "Bitcoin is mostly used by violent people to commit crimes!"
No: Bitcoin will be mostly used by honest people to stop/mitigate/fight/escape/avoid/neutralize/nullify horrible crimes, today routinely committed by violent people: taxation, prohibition, market manipulation, etc.
No: Bitcoin will be mostly used by honest people to stop/mitigate/fight/escape/avoid/neutralize/nullify horrible crimes, today routinely committed by violent people: taxation, prohibition, market manipulation, etc.
9) "Bitcoin's tech is trivial & nowadays obsolete, surpassed by other, most advanced "crypto" projects!"
No: Bitcoin is by far the most advanced, up-to-date, bleeding-edge innovative FOSS/Crypto project out there, w/ likely one of the highest concentrations of brain-power ever.
No: Bitcoin is by far the most advanced, up-to-date, bleeding-edge innovative FOSS/Crypto project out there, w/ likely one of the highest concentrations of brain-power ever.
10) "Altcoins invented new stuff that Bitcoin devs couldn't imagine!"
No: ALL selling-points in altcoin marketing (tangles, ZKPs, etc.) have previously been evaluated & dismissed/deferred by Bitcoin pioneers, sometimes even before Bitcoin itself (eg: PoS in bmoney, AD 1998).
No: ALL selling-points in altcoin marketing (tangles, ZKPs, etc.) have previously been evaluated & dismissed/deferred by Bitcoin pioneers, sometimes even before Bitcoin itself (eg: PoS in bmoney, AD 1998).
The end? Probably not, but I am sleepy, and 10 is a biblical number anyway (even if I confirm my absolute devotion to the tonal cause, @LukeDashjr!!!).
Uh oh! I guess I double-spent this argument!😂😂😂
And anyway, they were 9 points, not 10...I double spent 4 & 5!😂😂
