• Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, does not believe in cryptocurrencies, calling them a vehicle for scams and a Ponzi scheme.
  • Torvalds was once rumored to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, but he clarified it was a joke and denied owning a Bitcoin fortune.
  • Torvalds also dismissed the idea of technological singularity as a bedtime story for children, saying continuous exponential growth does not make sense.
  • FanBlade@lemmynsfw.com
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 months ago

    But it’s not backed by energy.

    The energy was consumed in the process of creating the crypto, that energy no longer exists and since it doesn’t exist it can’t back anything.

    • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      18
      ·
      6 months ago

      Isn’t there a person that famously said something to the effect of energy is neither created nor destroyed, only modified? I want to say it was like Isaac Newton or something. Some big name anyway. So you’re not destroying the energy. You’re changing the energy into heat, which during the winter can heat your home as a subsidy to your furnace, and you are turning it into a digital representation that you can take and spend anywhere in the world.

      • FanBlade@lemmynsfw.com
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        3
        ·
        6 months ago

        Still not describing anything that indicates it backs it.

        Good news though, I did reply again so feel free to condescendingly demonstrate your intelligence again.

      • MBM@lemmings.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 months ago

        In this case the heat is something data centers spend even more energy and water on to dispose of

        • shortwavesurfer@monero.town
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 months ago

          Which is why Monero’s proof of work algorithm ends up being better than Bitcoin. Because for a data center with tons of computers, it makes more financial sense to do something else with the machines rather than mine. But for a home user, it makes tons of sense to mine and get the heat to subsidize their electricity bill during the winter.

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 months ago

        I get you’re desperately trying to sound smart, but in this context, “energy” meant electricity. Because that’s what it takes to produce cryptocurrency. Not the general definition in the realm of physics study. And electricity can most certainly be created and destroyed.

        When you buy gold, you have the gold. It’s backed by the thing you have.

        When you buy cryptocurrency, you don’t have the electricity that was spent in fabricating those numbers. You don’t get sent a battery in the post. You have nothing.

          • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            6 months ago

            Again trying to sound smart. You have nothing tangible. You have numbers on a screen, and for some people that’s enough to throw money at.

            Nice attempt at moving the goalposts, btw.