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| Bit Coin. Cyber Currency. (Page 2/2) |
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NewDustin
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JUN 06, 08:58 AM
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cliffw
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JUN 09, 08:34 AM
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Interesting. And then there is this.
Samuel Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, is an American entrepreneur who founded the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and was convicted of fraud in 2023, leading to a 25-year prison sentence. He misappropriated billions of dollars from customers and investors, resulting in one of the largest financial frauds in history.
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Cliff Pennock
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JUN 10, 11:32 AM
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What often gets overlooked is that blockchain is fundamentally a decentralized, tamper-proof ledger - not just a way to hold "digital currency."
Every transaction or smart contract is permanently recorded, cryptographically secured, and publicly verifiable. Once it’s on-chain, it can’t be altered or falsified. This is what gives blockchain its real value - not some artificially imposed scarcity.
That’s the revolutionary power here: you get a trustless, shared source of truth. Yes, tokens might have a limited supply, but their true worth lies in the immutable record-keeping system that supports smart contracts, digital ownership, supply chains, identity systems, and much, much more.
To make this work however, a blockchain needs a global network of participants to process and store these transactions. That takes time, computing power, and electricity. The associated coin is the incentive that motivates these participants (miners or validators) to do this work - and do it honestly. Without that reward, there would be no reason for anyone to maintain the network’s integrity. These coins are also used to pay for transactions, helping to prevent spam and prioritize usage.
These transactions (and the coins involved) are stored in the very same ledger that the network maintains. So the system forms a closed loop: users pay fees in coins, those fees go to validators who maintain the ledger, and that ledger in turn records the coins and their movements. That’s why coins also have monetary value: because they are essential to the functioning and security of the blockchain, and because you can only obtain them by either participating in the network or buying them from someone who has.
In contrast, meme-coins exist only for the coin itself. Often, they don't even have their own blockchain; they piggyback on existing ones like Ethereum and offer no real functionality beyond being traded. They don’t support smart contracts, can’t host decentralized apps, and have no inherent utility. Their value is driven purely by hype and speculation, which is why they can collapse to zero overnight.
That’s not the case with coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or XRP, whose value is rooted in the functional infrastructure they support; as platforms, payment systems, or smart contract environments. Their value isn’t just what people believe they’re worth, it’s what they enable.
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maryjane
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JUN 10, 12:45 PM
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Wait.............Are you saying a BJ can't be purchased using a Hawk Tuah coin?
(askin for a neighbor..)
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