Bitcoin needs more "physical" spaces \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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15k sats \ 20 comments \ @SatoshisSkeleton 10 Jul 2023 bitcoin

Hey! I recently received positive feedback on my recent post: #206235

I'm new to Stacker and really enjoying it so far. The comments on my post have sparked more brainstorming:

To ensure Bitcoin's continued adoption among future generations, I believe it's important to have its presence in public spaces, especially in Bitcoin-supporting stores that curate counter-culture, transgressive, and thought-provoking art. These could include independent record shops, comic stores, bookstores, farmer markets, and more.

These shops serve as cultural hubs, run by critical thinkers who have a unique perspective on the world. They curate art, stories, and history that often lead people to Bitcoin. By supporting these niche stores, we can help keep the art and ideas they promote alive - thereby keeping Bitcoin alive.

Bitcoin shouldn't exist solely in niche corners of the web, no matter how dear they are to us. A valuable endeavor would be to help these shops and owners accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Even high-end stores like spirits and wine expert shops for elders could benefit from this integration.

Imagine a world where cool indie shops proudly accepted Bitcoin, and the entire community knew about it. Other businesses could follow suit, creating physical hubs and spaces where people, especially young adults and kids, can access Bitcoin culture and ethos.

Supporting these businesses may not always be the most profitable choice, as niche markets are constantly in competition with large corporations that offer lower prices. However, companies like Disney, Home Depot, and Amazon don't embody the culture that drives Bitcoin adoption. They perpetuate and homogenize the status quo.

I believe a Bitcoin fundraiser for TRUSTWEB in every city would be a worthwhile and practical initiative. Instead of solely directing our attention and resources toward software, we should also invest in physical places. There are Cash stores and Fiat Banks and Interac machines everywhere... but so few Lightning Merchant POS terminals.

I have a specific example in mind where a local record shop owner closed down because it wasn't profitable enough, but he kept it open as long as he could because he believed the community needed a music hub. It would be fantastic to see someone like him reopen his shop and proudly embrace Bitcoin.

What are your thoughts on this?

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1031 sats \ 1 reply \ @crispy 16 Jul 2023 freebie

I totally agree with you, and I think its happening, maybe slower than some would want. But it's inevitable. Here in Melbourne, we're working on a project to find a permanent space for bitcoin and FOSS. We also started https://unspent.space to enable community to share ideas and build code that supports spaces (e.g. hot desk reservation app). Come say hi!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @unspentspace 16 Jul 2023

can't even keep my shillers under control! ;)

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @l0k18 10 Jul 2023

Many places with a little research and effort you can basically live on Bitcoin, get paid, and most of the last mile to the vendor is paved with bitcoins.

I actually think that the inevitable hackapalypse as more and more mainstream banking payment systems come online with their shitty antiquated and easily leveraged centralised authentication will bring the people to Bitcoin... just a little longer, there's no way the charade in the banking and international fiat finance businesses can go on more than another 5 years without the mother of the Great Depression still to come.

Imagine, all the banks and payment networks go offline except for some smaller voucher redemption and bitcoin based retailers of them, everyone else is beating on the doors of the last remaining banks who are doing a Lebanon on everyone. Everyone who'd already put bitcoin into as much of their supply chain as possible is fine, and everyone else is suddenly paying attention.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @SatoshisSkeleton OP 16 Jul 2023

I had to look up hackapalypse

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @l0k18 16 Jul 2023

Well, the official term for the project is "cyberpolygon" lol.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @warif2570 10 Jul 2023

No,bitcoin need himself to grow and bigger

0 sats \ 9 replies \ @elvismercury 10 Jul 2023

The more that btc, and the complex of ideas that manifest in btc, become common cultural and intellectual elements, the more btc will thrive. In fact, this seems to me the most important element determinative of btc's success in the wider world.

All the "hard" aspects of btc's design culminate, in the end, in what people believe about it, and what value they find in it. A true thing that nobody cares about or acts on might as well not exist. More presence in the physical universe, and in culture outside of btc-specific spaces will accelerate this massively.

110 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatoshisSkeleton OP 16 Jul 2023

Yes. I've never thought of it particularly like that... but it's true. Ideas manifest IN the adoption and use. The medium IS the message

0 sats \ 6 replies \ @l0k18 10 Jul 2023

If it was about opinions, then fiat would be just fine.

It's only during failures and crashes that we really see what is stable and what is flimsy wafflecakes in front of a steamroller called "natural law".

Beware of people who don't see a problem in building on sand.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatoshisSkeleton OP 16 Jul 2023

True. Bitcoin is hard money.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @elvismercury 14 Jul 2023

Beware of people who don't see that money is a social coordination mechanism, and there are many forces at work in how groups of people choose to coordinate. The "technical" details matter, but they aren't the only things that matter.

(And which aspects of the technical details are salient for which situations is also complicated.)

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @l0k18 14 Jul 2023

indeed. prices fail to function as signals of supply when the currency is debased but the majority don't care if they don't suffer, and attack those who are being robbed.

Prices cannot be reliable signals without hard supply parameters.

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @elvismercury 14 Jul 2023

I'm not trying to nitpick you to death, but this is really the crux of it. From an absolutist sense, or maybe a Hayekian one, you're right -- fiat makes these signals unreliable. But what does that mean, practically? On what timescale?

It's undeniable that state-controlled money screws up the purity of the price signal, and all the human values that it aggregates. In return, the state assumes some ability to influence the coordination of people who operate under that fiat standard. Is this privilege abused? Clearly. Can it result in disaster? Yes, many examples show it. But does it have its virtuous uses? Could it be, on net, good?

Most bitcoiners would scream "no!" but most everyone else, including people from all over the world, throughout modern history, who have spent their lives thinking about the topic, and who did not stop their intellectual journeys after reading the Bitcoin Standard, have more nuanced views.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatoshisSkeleton OP 16 Jul 2023

I've heard some respected Bitcoiners say essentially, fiat isn't inherently "bad", it actually brought a lot of people put of poverty and raised standards of loving for a lot of people. It's just an artificial system that needs to be upgraded and replaced.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @l0k18 14 Jul 2023

Centralisation makes it seem like we can be more efficient in communication but for every perceived gain, there is a great deal of hidden cost and survivorship bias drastically distorts the image most people percieve.

I'm pretty sure it's like energy production in animals. For every extension in one direction, you have to trade off capacity in others. Taking these centralising shortcuts actually yields a net lower common wealth.

In the end, the laws of nature will dictate the final outcome, human aspirations are meaningless if they don't comport to it.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatoshisSkeleton OP 10 Jul 2023

Totally

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @birdeye21 10 Jul 2023

At a certain point in Bitcoin’s adoption, there won’t be “physical Bitcoin spaces” any longer

It’ll just be the norm

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatoshisSkeleton OP 10 Jul 2023

Hopefully

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @beorange 10 Jul 2023

I agree. That's what Bitcoin is meant for. Of course that is only viable if it makes use of lightning network, since the experience would suffer with on-chain transactions.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @SatoshisSkeleton OP 10 Jul 2023

Yep