10 sats \ 10 replies \ @Scoresby 12 Feb \ parent \ on: Ecash is just digital fiat. Change my mind bitcoin
This is a reasonable point of view. I agree with this.
Curious, though: how many years away do you think we are from billions of self-sovereign users of bitcoin?
how many years away do you think we are from billions of self-sovereign users of bitcoin?
I don't think it will happen
One reason why is that I think billions of people prefer to use easy things
And I, for one, keep making bitcoin harder and harder to use
I don't foresee any reversal of this trend, though I hope for one
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I think it is good that the option exists even if the masses dislike it
It is there for them to reject or accept, and I suspect the masses will continue to reject it for the foreseeable future, not due to ignorance, but due to trying it and concluding "this sucks worse than the old thing"
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how does it imply that?
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For bitcoin to be self sovereign, you must hold your own keys to a utxo.
If too many new people want bitcoin, getting a utxo will become very difficult, costly, time-consuming.
Presumably, there is some number at which the cost and wait-time to get a transaction confirmed is so high, that it is effectively not an option for most people, possibly even rich people.
I think this means you cannot say it is available to billions unless we are sure that it won't become popular as described above in my comment.
Can't resist adding this turn of phrase:
Bitcoin is only available to billions if it isn't used by billions.
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For bitcoin to be self sovereign, you must hold your own keys to a utxo.
If too many new people want bitcoin, getting a utxo will become very difficult, costly, time-consuming.
Perhaps, in the future, billions can have keys to a utxo without the negatives you mention
Keys are abundant, blockspace is scarce
I strive for a future where you can acquire a key to a utxo without paying a large cost to create tthat utxo, and thus, without paying a large cost for blockspace
I suspect "blockspace cost" can be divided among a utxo's keyholders so finely that every member considers their share of the cost low and reasonable. Musig utxos, coinjoins, my bitpac software, and Ark seem like promising steps in this direction.
I also suspect ownership of a utxo can be transferred without moving that utxo at all. Lightning demonstrates this. I suspect statechains can be improved upon to do it even better, and I hope one day to make joinpools that do it too.
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This sounds like a good future. I'm on board.
The distinction between having a key to a utxo and the key is good.
I wonder though if the same concerns about a lack of self-sovereignty would get raised in the case of multiple people sharing utxos.
Imagine a fedimint where every "minting" also added a key to the multisig holding the mint's bitcoin. So for each ecash token there was a proportionate key (key share?). In my ignorance this sounds like a very horrible mess, but with fancy cryptography all things are possible.
How do we feel about ecash where all token holders are also guardians (key holders in the multisig)?