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  • Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, does not believe in cryptocurrencies, calling them a vehicle for scams and a Ponzi scheme.
  • Torvalds was once rumored to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, but he clarified it was a joke and denied owning a Bitcoin fortune.
  • Torvalds also dismissed the idea of technological singularity as a bedtime story for children, saying continuous exponential growth does not make sense.
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[-] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 33 points 5 months ago

it is a good way to try to prevent governments from using that currency issuance power in ways their citizens would prefer they did not.

And instead it should be hedgefunds that have that power?

There is a need for currency and someone is going to have control over the value of that currency. At least with the government you can vote the bastards out.

[-] Tachikoma741@lemmy.today 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

In the United States you cannot vote for the people who issue currencies. The Federal Reserve are a bunch of privately owned banks.

[-] AIhasUse@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Nobody has to have control of the production of money, it is especially bad when corrupt people have the power to generate it into their pockets. I know it is hard to understand how generating money for one's self is theft from everyone with money, but it is the case, you just have to try a bit harder to wrap your head around it.

[-] Honytawk@lemmy.zip -1 points 5 months ago

Money needs to be backed by someone for it to hold value.

If there is no control of the production of money, then everyone can produce money, making it completely useless.

[-] AIhasUse@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

Yes, if everyone can produce as much of it as they want, then it would lose value. However, someone doesn't need to back something for it to have value. The most common currency in all of history was seashells. Nobody backed the seashells. Gold has had value for a long time and still does. Nobody backs gold. The reason these things had/have value is for a number of reasons, but possibly the most important reason is what you said, that nobody can just produce as much of if as they want. This is also a fundamental reason why Bitcoin has been steadily increasing in value, nobody can produce as much of it as they want. This is a major flaw that is inherent in fiat currencies(usd, euro, lira..), they can be produced as much as somebody(governments, counterfeiters) wants.

This is very simplistic, there are other reasons that various things are good ways to hold value. Divisibility and transportability are two big ones, both which Bitcoin excels at.

[-] itsmect@monero.town 1 points 5 months ago

At least with the government you can vote the bastards out.

In theory. In reality all parties serve the same lobbyists.

this post was submitted on 20 May 2024
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