@pre@boing.world2025-11-22 10:39:50
Despite much opinion to the contrary, the government money we use is crappy.
I'm at bitfest in Manchester to find out if Bitcoin could be a better money.
It could hardly be worse.
The mood is still good, people are joking about recent devaluation rather than crying. Those who aren't all in are trying to buy more at the discount.
After an introduction by Mad Bitcoins, Joe Bryan explains the problem with government money.
He imagines an island on which two types of money are tried, with a dividing wall between them.
When economic problems hit, government can just print more money on the fiat side. Everyone now using money which is worth less. Distorting prices, inflating asset prices, making the rich (who hold assets) richer and the poor (who have to pay inflated prices) poorer. Driving wealth inequality.
On the hard money side, government must tax properly. Take in more from the rich rather than inflating to take it from the poor. Reducing wealth inequality.
On the government money side, the wealthy monitize houses, stocks, resources. Saving in money is impossible, its inflated away. So they save in assets and hording resources. Capital is misallocated. The youth can't afford houses. Poverty traps are caused. The only way out is printing more for benefits. Making it all worse. More economic crises, more printing. More government debt.
Eventually, the wall is broken. Government money people can save in the hard money instead. It reduces the value of government money further. More printing. More inflation.
Eventually, war. Funded by printed money.
The dollar is the best of a bad bunch all other government money is falling in value even faster.
I wonder, is bitcoin really this better money though? It's limited, hard, and can't be printed without energy investment.
I'm still unsure that fixing money fixes the world.
--
Note: "crypto" is mostly more like government money than bitcoin. It can be printed indefinitely by it's makers, does not cost it's makers to print. Crypto is usually just a scam people to get more bitcoin. Bitcoin is not crypto.
#bitfest #bitcoin
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2025-11-21 10:06:11
@robpike@hachyderm.io2025-12-22 21:27:33
This is what happened to the web when the software industry never spent a moment thinking about long term stability. About users. About usability. About anything other than features and a fast buck.
Among many other failings.
Would be nice to some professionalism in future. One can hope, but I despair.
https://jimsbutchery.com.au
@fanf@mendeddrum.org2025-10-22 01:03:54
been faffing around with 3d geometry in build123d recently, and failing to get the cad kernel to produce geometric objects that do what i want
so i sat down to do some algebra
it’s annoying that the usual material about conic sections explains how ellipses and parabolas and hyperbolas work … but not how to derive them given a cone and a plane
so i worked it out for my particular problem, and happily things cancelled out very nicely, making the result nice and simple
(…
@cdarwin@c.im2025-10-22 14:55:28
Trump Dismisses Another Inspector General,
Fueling Oversight Concerns
With the firing of Parisa Salehi,
the Export-Import Bank’s inspector general,
the president has sidelined around two dozen of the watchdogs who seek out fraud and mismanagement in federal agencies.
Even among Republicans on Capitol Hill, Ms. Salehi’s firing is prompting some backlash.
Senator Charles E. Grassley,
Republican of Iowa, raised concerns that the termination was illegal, …
@pre@boing.world2025-11-21 15:33:35
Angor is a crowdfunding protocol for nostr and bitcoin.
Dan here is building it. Kickstarter without middle men.
Accountability is key. What stops the fund raiser just fleeing with the coin?
Funds are programmed to be released in stages, time locked in a multisig.
So if they aren't meeting milestones, investors can withdraw. If the founders are buying lambos instead of building, just cash out at that point.
Permissionless and decentralised, no servers except nostr relays and bitcoin nodes. No third party's claiming 30 percent fees. The system is a nostr client scanning relays for investment object types. Allowing investment into the funding contracts and subscription to updates.
#nostr #nostrshire #angor
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2025-11-21 22:15:13
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #AfternoonShow
Flying Mojito Bros:
🎵 Glitter
#FlyingMojitoBros
https://flyingmojitobros.bandcamp.com/album/glitter
https://open.spotify.com/track/7jNsuvcAbrJjUeAY1UugmX
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2025-12-22 00:15:17
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2025-11-22 18:21:16
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #PositiveVibrations
Mortimer:
🎵 Flowers & Flames
#Mortimer
https://ineffablerecords.bandcamp.com/track/flowers-flames
https://open.spotify.com/track/2jmdcCcyJYHqdKEbejup0S
@kexpmusicbot@mastodonapp.uk2025-10-22 18:08:36
🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on KEXP's #MiddayShow
The Autumn Defense:
🎵 Ever Flowing Light
#TheAutumnDefense
https://theautumndefense.bandcamp.com/track/ever-flowing-light
https://open.spotify.com/track/0kT0MagIOzK1JaJ33J6Wfz