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by shawnhermans 4119 days ago
The author makes a lot of statements but doesn't really back them up with solid facts or analysis. Consider the second reason of "Bitcoin will not end the need for trusted central parties" and claims that intermediaries do more than just payment processing. As an example, he talks about YouTube and revenue splitting.

I don't understand the connection between YouTube revenue splitting and Bitcoin replacing traditional currencies. I guess this is supposed to be an example of intermediaries providing value added, but can we at least provide an example in the payment processing space? What does a credit card company provide that is not provided by Bitcoin?

Overall, I am on the fence on Bitcoin. I get the feeling cryptocurrencies will drastically change the world economy in the future, but I don't think anyone really knows how and to what extent.
1 comments
sida 4119 days ago
To build a bit more context, there are a lot of talks about how Bitcoin will:

- Replace youtube in the form of a decentralized video platform - Decentralized Spotify - Decentralized Uber

A google search of DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) and you will find many many people talking about that. The thesis is that, no Bitcoin won't decentralize all these intermediaries, instead what is more feasible is that maybe future blockchain technologies could lower barriers to entry.

As for comparison payment processing space, this is more in point 1. Bitcoin is not cheaper. Bitcoin is extremely expensive to use and intended to be expensive.

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aminok 4119 days ago
>As for comparison payment processing space, this is more in point 1. Bitcoin is not cheaper. Bitcoin is extremely expensive to use and intended to be expensive.

Bitcoin is currently overly secure, due to the block subsidy, so therefore total mining costs relative to number of transactions is very high. As the block subsidy diminishes, this ratio will decline

Total security can be maintained, without transaction fees increasing, if transaction volumes increase, which is entirely possible, and is what has historically happened.

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