It is quite plausible that bitcoin becomes the global reserve asset, just as gold was in the past. Bitcoin is superior to gold in every single aspect except for the number of years it has existed. To learn more:

https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern...

We don't need "crypto," we need _Bitcoin_. Crypto is the scam he references here. It's clear that DHH has a very thin understanding of Bitcoin and is conflating arguments about the web3/crypto/defi/nft nonsense with it. _That_ is the psyop.

If people think Bitcoin and all of the other junk (sh*tcoins) are the same thing, you're just walking into the same trap as what precipitated the nightmare in Canada.

The thing to watch for is the push for CBDCs which are state-controlled cryptocurrencies which will give authoritarians perpetual hard-on levels of control. You think freezing a bank account is bad? Wait until they can make your money expire or prevent you from transacting with anyone they deem "bad actors."

Recommended: https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern...

Man the anti-crypto hate on HN is stronger than usual today!

> NFTs don’t prove ownership — ordinary legal contracts are just as good, and in fact better since they are heavily regulated and can be taken to courts for a central resolution when problems arise

Blockchains allow strangers to transact high-value amounts across borders, quickly, securely. The fact I can move $1 billion USDC, $1 billion in BTC, or a $1 billion-valued NFT in seconds is why it leapfrogs the slow, manual, corruptible legal system. Can blockchains be a replacement for everything the courts provide? No. Can they allow moving digital goods quickly and safely across the world? Yes, because that is what they are designed to do.

> Blockchains (which NFTs rely on) are in the best case no more secure than ‘normal’ relational database storage systems, and in most cases are less secure

This is so fantastically incorrect the author has no business speaking authoritatively on this subject. Bitcoin is incorruptible. If you disagree, go and try! A relational database only needs a central party to fail. Does everything need a blockchain? No. Tweets go in the relational database, financial assets go on the blockchain.

> Cryptocurrencies have no innate value and are only useful as a pyramid scheme, something big crypto influencers are knowingly using to profit from those who don’t realise it

This book will refute the point https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern... TLDR Bitcoin is the hardest money ever created, politicians / society cannot manipulate it, therefore store wealth in bitcoin.

> Both cryptocurrencies and NFTs cause high environmental damage, and there are no viable systems to deal with this problem due to security considerations

Layer 2 solutions like Arbitrum and Optimism are live now that scale Ethereum without centralization. Proof of Stake chains like Cosmos, Avalanche, Polkadot, etc. are live now. ETH2 moving to PoS will happen soon.

For a relatively quick read with an alternative perspective, check out The Bitcoin Standard https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern...

There is a logical explanation as to why bitcoin could be very valuable in our current world. It is because it cannot be inflated beyond the 21 million cap. If you have an open mind, give it a read!

I have seen this kind of thinking from Andreas Antopolous as well, but actually the investment analysis is critical to understand before deciding to buy or not to buy Bitcoin. I suggest everybody who is interested in Bitcoin to read the Bitcoin Standard book.

https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern...

Ethereum is very different from Bitcoin, so this comment is offtopic, and it's tackling a different problem space, but if you are really interested, I'm reading the Bitcoin Standard book, and I can recommend it if you really want to understand what problem Bitcoin solves. There's no simple answer, only learning about the history of money and monetary theory from a non-Keynsian view.

https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern...

Thanks - I’ll check them out.

Plan B: https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD/modeling-bitcoins-value-w...

Bitcoin Standard: https://www.amazon.com/Bitcoin-Standard-Decentralized-Altern...