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293 sats \ 7 replies \ @gnilma 11 Jun 2023 \ on: Unpopular Opinions - A Weekend Discussion bitcoin
So many so called “bitcoiners” are LARPers, especially many who are prominent on bitcoin Twitter with large followings. They say they are all for freedom and privacy; meanwhile they endorse and take sponsorship from KYC exchanges and custodial lending platforms. I see all KYC coins as government captured coins, and any custodial platform is a “rug you anytime” platform.
And then there are those who keep saying bitcoin will eventually win, for certain. As if we can just kick our feet up, sit back, and watch bitcoin win. That is far from true. Satoshi gave us the gift of bitcoin and it is up to us to not fuck it up. We need to take care of it, build on top of it, make sure it’s still usable when hundred millions or billions of people want to use it. Thinking that we have already won / will eventually win while growing complacent is the last thing that will help us win. In fact, it might be the very thing that cause bitcoin to fail.
KYC trail on the blockchain only opens a user to potential government harassment. It does not change or affect anything else after the coins are on private keys.
It takes a critical mass of people willing to face authority and tell them NO, before things will change. I'm not discouraging P2P at all. But if all we do is run and hide in fear, then Liberty will lose.
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I disagree. Handing one’s identity to centralized platforms that can be hacked, stolen from, or forcefully captured, and at the same time, linking all bitcoin obtained from these platforms to one’s identity changes everything. As very well said by Matt Odell:
It is not running or hiding in fear to want privacy in life. It is simply the choice and the ability to selectively reveal yourself to others. It is freedom.
I stand by what I said and would like to add that KYC = Keeping Yourself Cucked.
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I suspect plenty of Chinese people avoid censorship and totalitarianism. But that remnant has not influenced or changed the policies of the government which now abuses them.
I am not willing to accept the loss of liberty in the United States and if somehow it becomes illegal to own or trade KYC Bitcoin then we will have another 80 years of tyranny.
Again, I agree everyone should have a free and private stack- but accepting government restrictions over your actual irl identity and ownership of Bitcoin will be a massive loss for liberty.
Winning the race to avoid the war means having a significant amount of upstanding and public people unafraid to hold all kinds of Bitcoin KYC and otherwise.
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You are only right in your first paragraph.
Everyone you know and love dying before hyperbitcoinization is not Bitcoin's failure, but would be that of our epoch. Bitcoin will survive regardless of its price or usage.
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I understand that this is a long game and that we are very early in the adoption phase. In fact, I don’t think hyperbitcoinization will happen during my lifetime. The existing power establishment will fight us and throw everything at us in an attempt to kill bitcoin. I still think bitcoin will likely come out on top in the end.
But I don’t believe in absolutes and guarantees. I believe the survival of bitcoin relies on its adopters / users. If the majority of bitcoin adopters grow complacent, it will not help bitcoin win. Saying bitcoin will win while ignoring privacy and self sovereignty will not help bitcoin succeed.
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