Real Adoption Happens at the Top \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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346 sats \ 5 comments \ @spiderman 4 Oct bitcoin

Some people who followed me know that I spent some thoughts on use of Bitcoin as money, i.e. a medium of exchange, as opposed to only store of value (which usually comes before MoE). While I would love to see more merchant adoption, some nuance is necessary in what kind of merchant I want to see adopting it. I do not care so much about whether my next door cafe sells me a latte for Bitcoin (which will come, when his hand is forced, whether he is a Bitcoiner or not).

As always, it is the critical mass and network problem. Merchants will have to pay their taxes, labours, suppliers and rent in Fiat, hence accepting Bitcoin just adds a layer of complexity, which I sort of have to agree with. And that is why, to see positive signs of adoption, you have to look at the top of the food-chain.

Which is why, just today I chanced upon this (already a quarter old) news of Christie's settling luxury real estate transactions on Bitcoin that gave me some small joy, as another step in the right direction.

No, I cannot afford any of Christie's listings in a few lifetimes, but it is still more important than my next door ice-cream seller accepting lightning for a Gelato. It is not the symbolism that is valuable here, but it shows that those who sell to the top of the food chain (think of multi-floor penthouse overlooking Central Park, Manhattan, or a townhouse in London) are accepting Bitcoin as a medium of settlement as good as whatever alternative medium they use (bank transfer or something)?

Know the examples of Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Argentina? As their economies got dollarised, it did not start from the moron selling banana on the street, but from the elites moving their wealth outside local currency/banking system. Yes, Bitcoin as a revolution has a grass-root ethos to it, but the network effect? That starts from the top, those with real capital and warchest starting to put their faith in Bitcoin as the superior money.

So now that Christie accepts Bitcoin for its real estate, it is just a step towards preferring Bitcoin (over Fiat) for its deals, once they see the advantage, and the competitive pressure will force others too.

If I had $50 million to drop for a house, and someone gave me the choice to pay (or receive) this

over the Swift network
the Bitcoin network (layer zero)

I would choose the later, every single day. And Christie will recognise it too, soon enough.

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0 sats \ 2 replies \ @DarthCoin 4 Oct

naaah Christie's announcement is just grift not adoption. Real adoption is when all mom&pop shops around you are accepting bitcoin, where you buy every day necessities. How many times per month you go to Christie to buy something from auctions?

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @spiderman OP 4 Oct

I gave very clear rational on why Christie's adoption is a bigger deal than your ice-cream seller.

How many times per month you go to Christie?

I do not, and will never, not even in two lifetimes, as I so clearly said. But again, the top end of the food-chain forces it on the plebs and morons. You are ahead of most of those plebs and morons, congratulations, but when Christie gets orange pilled, that is more effective than me going to my ice cream seller trying to orange pill him about magic internet money that will not directly pay his bills.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 4 Oct

you still don't get it... it's ok

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @adlai 4 Oct

If I had $50 million to drop for a house, and [...]

If I'd stacked even fourty-nine cowboy credits from yesterday, I'd have no qualms about spending satoshis to ramble away in this comment section; however, my words don't even please myself.

I'll abandon the following teaser, with only the following hook: I've forgotten why I didn't have any questions for Jeff Garzik after his talk, although the one that bothered me most was actually by someone whose name I've forgotten, because the ideas that bothered me took deeper root than whichever limited-liability affiliation had buoyed him onto the stage... and I've remembered it, by now, while typing this comment; although to avoid slandering the wrong suit, I should verify, and this allows time for anyone interested in the rest of my unsortable reminiscence to zap this comment rather than the yesterslop.

Honestly, I think I need to set aside my criticisms of this website footers included, puns unavoidably intended, and tell a little about my journey of "woah, I actually didn't understand Bitcoin before, and now I do; it's all about ________".

Don't worry, I'm commenting on the correct post!

2015 was not the first time I spoke openly about digital currency and analog skepticism, although it was the year I began losing friends. I'd already acquired the fundamental skills of navigating ideological space for making and keeping a life-well-spent's worth of friends, although I'd not been applying them particularly carefully; for example, I had no plans to do anything particularly social in Florida that week of January 2015, beyond visiting Miami for "The North American Bitcoin Conference" at the invitation of a friend.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @adlai 4 Oct

there ain't any words for how angry this conversation has made me;

you will get blamed for the loss of my patience,

... and you will accept ~~your~~ my responsibility.