In one sense, this submission really is politics and I feel bad about
up-voting it, since politics are against the HN site guidelines.
In another sense, this is also about tech, specifically, bitcoin. The
desperate people in Cypress may turn towards alternative currencies as a
way to escape their situation.
I know there are a lot of folks around here who vocally support bitcoin
or other alternative currencies. For me the idea is very interesting,
but the reality makes me nervous. There are one of two possibilities;
either (1) I know bitcoin well enough to never trust it, or (2) I don't
know bitcoin well enough to make an informed decision.
I'm still betting on the latter. ;-)
None the less, there's a lot of negative bitcoin news that never makes
the front page of HN, and I wonder why. The most recent was:
The worst part of the above could the sensationalism, but in my
opinion, it's my inability to verify the veracity of the claims. Are
they just muckraking to (successfully) cause "Fear, Uncertainty, and
Doubt" (FUD)? --Sadly, stuff like this makes us already skeptical and
squeamish folks even more nervous about it.
Market manipulation is a very real problem in all markets, so even if
the above is entirely true, it's merely one instance of graft against
bitcoin, when there are countless instances of corruption in all the
other markets.
In another sense, this is also about tech, specifically, bitcoin. The desperate people in Cypress may turn towards alternative currencies as a way to escape their situation.
I know there are a lot of folks around here who vocally support bitcoin or other alternative currencies. For me the idea is very interesting, but the reality makes me nervous. There are one of two possibilities; either (1) I know bitcoin well enough to never trust it, or (2) I don't know bitcoin well enough to make an informed decision.
I'm still betting on the latter. ;-)
None the less, there's a lot of negative bitcoin news that never makes the front page of HN, and I wonder why. The most recent was:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5459304
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fvSYT7vhQY
The worst part of the above could the sensationalism, but in my opinion, it's my inability to verify the veracity of the claims. Are they just muckraking to (successfully) cause "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" (FUD)? --Sadly, stuff like this makes us already skeptical and squeamish folks even more nervous about it.
Market manipulation is a very real problem in all markets, so even if the above is entirely true, it's merely one instance of graft against bitcoin, when there are countless instances of corruption in all the other markets.