Physicality of Bitcoin
516 sats \ 4 comments \ @rybka 10 Nov 2023 bitcoin
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/bitcoin-is-physical-bits-and-bytes-have-to-live-somewhere
Bitcoin and blockchain are physical
An interesting media archeology of Bitcoin, the article claims that explaining the physicality of coins & blockchains to normies and “sound tangible money enthusiasts” may help in convincing them.
from the article: “To explain the ways in which Bitcoin is physical, we need to delve into technical territory, starting with how flash memory works.
Flash memory, a type of non-volatile storage medium for data, is the most common way that the Bitcoin ledger is recorded in each Bitcoin node. Flash memory is “non-volatile,” which means that the data stored inside it will remain intact, even without a supply of electricity.
At the microscopic level, flash memory is made up of an array of memory cells, each constructed from a MOSFETs (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor). These transistors are tiny switches that have a floating gate that traps or releases electrons. The presence or absence of electrons on this floating gate translates into binary code, which in turn represents data.
When you hold Bitcoin, your ownership record is literally a configuration of physical gates in a MOSFET inside a flash memory chip. Every Bitcoin transaction that ever happened is recorded in the physical states of transistors inside Bitcoin nodes scattered around the globe.”
Do you think the argument has merit? Would explaining how computer memory works to your parents convince them that bitcoin is tangible?
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172 sats \ 2 replies \ @nullcount 10 Nov 2023 freebie
Bitcoin is NOT the bits in your silicon. If it were, then everyone who ran a full node would custody all the Bitcoin. Which makes no sense. Instead, bitcoin is the consensus reached when all nodes are in agreement about the state of the ledger represented by bits in silicon.
Its like the Rai Stones analogy. The money isn't the 2-ton stone sitting in Bob's front yard. In fact, everyone agrees that Bob only owns 1/4 of that stone. Therefore the "money" is actually the community's agreement of who owns the stone. Quite intangible, even though it uses something tangible as a means to derive the money.
https://jungcurrents.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/STONEMONE_635.jpg
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161 sats \ 1 reply \ @nullcount 10 Nov 2023
Because ownership of BTC is just information plus consensus (private key + ledger). It can never be a "true" bearer asset IMO.
You have to be reasonably certain that you have EXCLUSIVE knowledge of a key to "own" any sats. Bearing that key in your custody does not make that key unknowable to others. Its just a number after all, and you can't really own a number.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @go 10 Nov 2023
but for all intents and purposes...
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @k00b 10 Nov 2023
It's hard to say what might make bitcoin click for someone, but the click is not "bitcoin is acktully tangible in a convoluted way." The click is "money is a ledger."
People definitely don't understand how computers work though, let alone a network of computers, and that probably does contribute to FUD sensitivity.
If bitcoin wins, it won't be because people understand how bitcoin or even money works. It'll win based on the utility it brings people and it's up to us to communicate the utility it already has, and if that isn't sufficient, create the utility it's missing.
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