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Post by Makayla Rieder on Jan 12, 2018 2:51:54 GMT
Bitcoin is quite interesting. I like the idea of it, having a different currency for the internet that’s easy to get and relatively easy to spend, but i think it’s gotten out of hand. However, i love the idea of the Blockchain systems being used for more than bitcoin. It could be one of the best innovations into transferring voting and other transactions that need to be secure onto the internet. Voting would be so much easier or a lot of people if they could just go on their phones for a few minutes and vote, and maybe with blockchain it could happen without everyone freaking out and saying that it could be tampered with relatively easily. I don’t think that currencies like bitcoin will be a big thing in the future. People are so comfortable with normal money at this point that it will be hard to turn them away from it. Most people prefer to stay using what they use rather than try something new, especially with big things such as their money. Again, i do like the idea of making voting possible online through blockchain, but it could be pretty hard. After so many attempts at online voting and then hacking and such, it will be hard to convince everyone that it’s safe to use it, even with evidence that it’s ok to use. I like the blockchain system in general, using a bunch of different anonymous computers and people to do all the work. I think that it is very smart to keep big things such as this out of big companies or governments that could mess it up just because they have the power too, and instead use unbiased and small amounts of people to just anonymously verify transactions. I most likely would not buy bitcoin or anything like it for myself. I’m cool with using what we have and wouldn’t want to take any kind of risk with my money. Anyway, bitcoin is cool, but it’s not for me.
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Post by Hunter Prementine on Jan 12, 2018 3:46:40 GMT
@olivia Thank you for being the first to post, I enjoyed reading your response  |
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Post by Hunter Prementine on Jan 12, 2018 3:48:02 GMT
To everyone who has posted so far, you have done a great job with your responses, I have enjoyed reading them!
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Post by Hunter Prementine on Jan 12, 2018 3:57:08 GMT
One more thing..
If any of you have been on snapchat's discover page recently there are 2 sources that are talking about bitcoin and more specifically its power consumption. A lot of you are saying that essentially bitcoin's "bubble" is going to burst and it will be useless. To reach the 21 million Bitcoins it is capped at it will take more power than the world currently produces right now i believe is what i read. I totally agree with everyone who is against Bitcoin. The thing that intrigues me is that if you would've invested $120 into the currency, almost a decade later you would have a LOT of money. Which is too bad that it isn't the case now.
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Post by Maya French on Jan 12, 2018 4:37:00 GMT
I have done research into Bitcoin previous to this discussion board when it first started to become popular. The most striking aspect of this currency to me was that its value was able to fluctuate, I had to wonder whether or not Bitcoin could even be considered valued currency due to this characteristic. When I looked into the definition of “currency”, a pattern became clear, the only defining character was at it was a medium of trade. Merriam-webster defines it as “something (such as coins, treasury notes, and banknotes) that is in circulation as a medium of exchange”. Since its start up, Bitcoin has risen and dropped in “value” on a day-to-day basis. Derek Thompson wrote in The Atlantic about the value of Bitcoin after being praised by Senators in 2013, “Senatorial droning on C-SPAN doesn’t always move markets. But when it does, it really does. The value of bitcoin tripled within the month to $900”. In my opinion, a currency that can fluctuate in value is simply a ploy on the human wishfulness just as gambling does. Thompson proves this fear well by writing “If the Japanese yen or American dollar did the same, their economies would plunge into an infernal deflationary spiral.” Bitcoin has been able to be used in online purchases with sites who chose to accept them therefore, by definition, it is a legitimate form of currency. Perhaps Bitcoin is simply the next modern form of currency. Many are fearful of this new form of currency due to their lack of control over it but even with today's form of currency the people are not handling their own money. Mark Staples wrote in The Conversation “In our society, we normally rely on trusted third parties, such as lawyers, courts, banks and governments to process and keep authoritative records about commercial transactions...these third parties are trusted because we rely on them. If they fail or lie, we suffer”. It is just the social norm in society to trust theses people to handle our money, it could be the future to trust the technology and online banks to keep and track our online currency. The system we have now may be just as vulnerable, currency is only worth what a society is willing to believe it is worth.
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Post by Chloe Fetter on Jan 12, 2018 6:18:15 GMT
Essentially, I believe that just like everything else in the world, Bitcoin can be used for good and bad things. However, since Bitcoin is still developing, I don't exactly trust the technology. There are many unknown factors involved in the payment method and true value of Bitcoin . A professor by the name of. Aswath Damodaran that was interviewed by Derek Thompson for the Atlantic stated that, “Right now it’s not a very good currency, because it’s not a good medium of exchange and it’s not a good store of value, because it’s too volatile" (The Atlantic). As for cryptocurrencies being the money of the future, I believe that it will soon become regulated or even shut down by the federal government due to its destructive natures for example, "the fact that bitcoin users can maintain their anonymity and you have a monetary system free of government control" (Global Issues in Context). Many people avoid product taxes, legality, and morality when it comes to purchases using Bitcoin. Perhaps the future of voting could be in the hands of Blockchain technology with a designated program however, in order to achieve this, every voter has to be on board with the system. It could be difficult introducing a completely renovated voting system to a crowd that is only familiar with one. With the correct application, Blockchain technology could create, "a revolutionary system whose protocols may turn democracy, and for that matter capitalism, on its head"(Global Issues in Context). I believe a system where the people control their currency is ideal. The freedom of Bitcoin draws people in as they can purchase what they want and how whilst being anonymous. This isn't to say that Bitcoin doesn't house some controversy and I personally would not partake in the trend but I do believe that Bitcoin could lead to a more personal touch on the monetary system.
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Post by Olivia Girdwood on Jan 12, 2018 13:17:37 GMT
@lauragutauskas
I love your addition of the PA Turnpike Fees, it brings Bitcoin fees into a place of easier understanding for the common man. You mentioned how one currency runs its lifetime then another replaces it, but Bitcoin does not seem to have a replacement? Are you sure that is not just a "sign" per say about maybe it is the best one we could possibly have? and what about letting people have a choice at polling stations? Like one could choose whether to use pen and paper or an online system?
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Post by Laura Gutauskas on Jan 13, 2018 22:53:09 GMT
@oliviagirdwood Although I only mentioned it before in parentheses, Ethereum could potentially be just one of the other options, or even Litecoin. When it comes to real life application, Ethereum is further along than Bitcoin due to its potential for technological innovation. According to Forbes, "Chronicled, recently worked with a 3D-printing company, Origin, to develop a ‘smart tag’ for sneakers and luxury goods that could guarantee their authenticity. This was done leveraging Ethereum’s blockchain technology." The article below does a good explanation of differentiating the two cryptocurrencies and explaining how Ethereum builds up from what already exists with blockchain technology. I guess how I said it was a little confusing, but in the U.S., online voting has yet to take off (basically voting at home without absentee ballot) and so to implement these blockchain systems for voting, they would have to be inside of an already existing polling station since there ARE online systems already in those places. And yes, giving people that choice would be a good idea as long as it's regulated properly - of course that is one of the big issues when it comes to new voting policies. www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/09/14/how-is-ethereum-different-from-bitcoin/#43d86e91502b |
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Post by Laura Gutauskas on Jan 13, 2018 23:09:11 GMT
@chloefetter Of course voting has been a big topic regarding blockchain, but I didn't really consider this until reading what you said about "introducing a completely renovated voting system to a crowd that is only familiar with one." (In regards to current online systems at polling stations) Do you think if the government implemented a blockchain program (upon approval) and kept the decentralized process in place, that everyday people would actually notice that there's anything different? The voting process itself would be the same I'm guessing while everything else would just happen behind the scenes. You also said that "every voter has to be on board with the system," which is true when it comes to this. If we had something like this, there could be discrepancies not in the blockchain votes, but from votes that are going the traditional route. We would need a way to prevent people from doubling up on a blockchain system vote and a traditional vote.
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Post by Brooke Gentile on Jan 14, 2018 18:05:58 GMT
@babz
I love the point you made about how the users of Bitcoin have access to powerful computers making the voting system more vulnerable if we were to use it for voting. I love reading your response and many others to better grasp the concept of the Bitcoin. I never thought of it in that way being that the voting could very well be tampered with due to the amount of power these people have with their computers.
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Post by Maya French on Jan 14, 2018 18:57:37 GMT
@chloefetter, in regards to your quote "I believe that it will soon become regulated or even shut down by the federal government", I found it intriguing that you took that perspective on this. I became curious as to how the federal government would be able put a ban on such an item. There is no way of tracing who is providing this currency there for their is no way to stop the flow of Bitcoin into our economy. Everything is virtual and problems such as the "silk road" will always exist. If the government were to place and ban on Bitcoin and a punishment for using it people will do what they always have and find a way around what is set to monitor any kind of illegal actions. With a ban i feel as though Bitcoin users will be forced into using them on the dark web and in doing so push Bitcoin more towards the wrong hands. As with any new technology, Bitcoin has an extremely wide variety of potential but there are just too many people who will take advantage of the harmful uses to determine if this technology is "right or wrong".
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Post by Maya French on Jan 14, 2018 19:10:46 GMT
@makayla, I have to disagree with your theory that Blockchain will ease people's fear in voting from their phones. I think that the idea of an unregulated and unmonitored form of voting has too many risks involved. By simply voting off your personal mobile phone there is little protection to the voter privacy in reality, not even considering the virtual risks. I believe that with idea will not be received kindly by the public, there will be too many skeptics and people in protest. It may take a few generations of people who are born and fully immersed into this new technologically driven culture to truly trust technology such as this.
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Post by Wyatt Heyl on Jan 14, 2018 19:39:10 GMT
@maya_french I like how you put at the end that currency is only what a society believes it is worth. All though I doubt that bitcoin will be the next currency. I mean look at the example with like apple pay or just paying from a persons phone. I work at a place where that is an option for paying for someone's purchase and I barely even see people ever do it. Its just hard for people to trust other people with there money because of all the theft of money online.
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Post by Wyatt Heyl on Jan 14, 2018 19:50:19 GMT
@chloe_fetter I agree with you on not participating in the bitcoin rave. The main reason being is that there being the potential of getting in trouble for all of the things avoided such as tax evasion and it just not being completely legal. Also with what you said having the potential in being shut down by the government. Because just imagine all of those people that have invest all of their time in efforts into bitcoin. What if it does get shut down what will they do they be drained. I don't want to get involved in that. call me old school.
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Post by Barbie Cessar on Jan 14, 2018 22:44:52 GMT
Now that I understand more about the topic I agree that "Bitcoin and Blockchain are examples of remarkable leaps in technology". @meghan I also love how you referenced Catalonia from a past discussion! In response to your question I would have to say that I believe that Blockchain is corruptible. This technology is used to fight corruption but I believe that there will always be some form of corruption and manipulation with relying on individuals to make the correct transactions on powerful computers.
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