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100 sats \ 4 replies \ @SimpleStacker 29 Aug 2022 \ on: Lyn Alden AMA bitcoin
Hi Lyn, thanks for this AMA. I have been a fan ever since I read your piece on the history of the petrodollar.
What's your view of Ethereum relative to Bitcoin? They have two very different use cases, with Bitcoin being decentralized hard money and Ethereum trying to be a decentralized cloud computer. But there's a lot of debate over the degree to which Ethereum can truly be decentralized, and the degree to which Ethereum's drivers are interested in number-go-up versus real decentralization. What are your thoughts?
Well with the difficulty bomb, Ethereum has never been decentralized. That bomb prevents nodes from being in control. And if nodes are hard to run, and with proof of stake, even without the difficulty bomb I don't think it will be very decentralized. The MEV issue also opens it up to centralization because only a handful of sophisticated entities will be the best at ordering blocks.
I mainly classify smart contract ecosystems as equities. They're pretty centralized and they live or die by how much they can get users to use their network rather than competitors. I think stablecoins have a use-case, and I think DeFi, NFTs, and crypto games will probably be around for a while in some form.
I think it's unwise for smart contract platforms to advertise themselves as ultra sound money and try to compete with bitcoin for that particular use case.
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Can you elaborate on why you think it’s unwise for a smart contract platform to advertise themselves as ultra sound money?
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Let’s set aside the fact that “ultra sound money” is a ridiculous term.
Sound money doesn’t keep adjusting its issuance/burn rate based on whatever they feel like in that moment. Its consensus is also not centralized like ETH is.
Bitcoin is sound money because no entity controls it, and its monetary policy cannot ever change.
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EXACTLY.
I have been pounding the table on this forever with all the hype-crazed .eth maxis.
It literally doesn't matter what Ethereum does, it can literally never be a better sound/hard money than Bitcoin. It's impossible, because it's core focus and core competency is elsewhere.
One sentence rebuttal that lasts forever: If Ethereum needs to add 10% inflation in order to outcompete Solana, it will always choose to do so.
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