Ruby on Rails founder: Rethinking Bitcoin, why do we need cryptocurrencies?

Original title: "I was wrong, we need crypto"

Original compilation: 0x21, Rhythm BlockBeats

Original compilation: 0x21, Rhythm BlockBeats

The cryptocurrency represented by Bitcoin has been criticized since its birth, and there are many famous people among them, such as Buffett's old friend Munger, who is still criticizing Bitcoin to this day.

Of course, many people have changed their views. Bridgewater Fund President Rui Dalio said last year that he missed some information about Bitcoin and bought a little Bitcoin. And on February 21, David Heinemeier Hansson, the founder of Ruby on Rails, also changed his attitude towards Bitcoin.

David scoffed at cryptocurrencies in 2010 because of the various flaws of Bitcoin, and started a debate with "Cyclops" (the logo of Bitcoin enthusiasts) on Twitter, and finally broke up. Now, he has re-explained his understanding and thinking about cryptocurrencies through the phenomenon caused by the "Canadian Truck Driver Protest".

Rhythm translates the full text as follows.

Previously, it would have been a lot of respect for me to say that my views on Bitcoin, or other members of the crypto world, were simply skeptical. It all started with a brutal "war" on Twitter in early 2010 between me and the Cyclops HODL (referring to cryptocurrency supporters) army.

There are too many aspects of cryptocurrency that are worthy of questioning, such as the energy consumption generated by Bitcoin, the incomprehensible transaction fees, people are constantly increasing the weight for an "air coin", the price of major currencies fluctuates violently, Tether issued "USDT "It is an obvious fraud, and of course the so-called Web3.0 infrastructure lacks real decentralization measures.

In addition to these superficial challenges, my more complaints may come from my lack of personal imagination. If you live in a backward country like Venezuela, or an overtly authoritarian country like Iran, banks will not commit to any form of digital currency. But how does this relate to some stable Western democracies advocating Bitcoin? In addition to the philosophical level, can it be applied to other ways of "making quick money"?

There is a saying that goes like this: "I know I'm suspicious, but the danger is not non-existent." This is exactly the case now, if all the most positive news about Bitcoin is put forward by these "quick money" profiteers, and many conspiracies are hidden under the fig leaf, it does not mean that these positive news The news is not true.

I once wrote about the Canadian truckers protesting ("Go truck yourself"). They honked their horns, blocked streets and bridges, waved flags, and put up signs to protest against the mandatory vaccination of truckers against the new crown. The peaceful protests lasted just three weeks before they were met with strong pressure from the Canadian government.

The protest organization raised about 10 million Canadian dollars for the cause of the protest through GoFundMe (a profitable crowdfunding platform in the United States), but the Ottawa police found GoFundMe and ordered it to take back the original donation and divert its use to other areas, resulting in the fact that the protest organization actually received Fundraising is much smaller than actual donations (the protests in the summer of 2020 also raised tens of millions of dollars for social justice causes). This became the point of the whole conflict, when I just thought the crowdfunding platform was bypassing the Canadian authorities because GiveSendGo (a Christian crowdfunding site) did the same.

Concerns about the status of the donations quickly dissipated as Canada's prime minister imposed martial law on the protest group a few days later. Through the prime minister's special powers to deal with catastrophic events, the bank accounts of protesters and donors were frozen, tow truck operators were forced to clean up the streets, and insurance companies were forced to abandon claims services for protesters.

The effect of this method is very "obvious". The unrest was quickly quelled as police used pepper spray and flash bangs to counter protesters in front of Parliament Square. But even so, the police will still use investigations to put economic pressure on the participants of the protests in the coming months.

Therefore, Canadian citizens who have donated to the protests in the next few months may need to worry for a while, because their bank accounts may be frozen at any time, and they may be entangled in lawsuits under the Prevention of Terrorism Financing Act, or Their personal accounts will be canceled by the bank because they participated in fundraising activities on websites such as GiveSendGo.

It all sounds horrific.

I still can't believe this is true. The above-mentioned protests may prove that everyone who came up with a concept like Bitcoin may be more prescient. I have to admit my mistake, Western countries desperately need basic knowledge of the crypto world.

Is this revealed because of the protests in Canada? If so, then the Care Bears could take control of Baghdad's prisons.

A large number of American commentators began to cheer, "Those nasty truck drivers have been punished! They even protested against not being vaccinated against the new crown. Instead of doing this, it is better to choose to live in Denmark, where the population is small and there are few vaccines." This is obviously impossible.

The strange thing is that everyone thinks that this matter is better reminded by Trudeau than by Trump. Because everyone thinks that Trump’s previous remarks have nothing to do with the lives of Europeans, just like I have always believed that Venezuela and Iran’s demands for cryptocurrency have nothing to do with the lives of Westerners.

Are France and Canada really that different? Austria? Denmark?

This reminds me of the Snowden leaks. Before he gave evidence, the claim that the US was processing all the emails in the world, recording any phone call anywhere at will, and monitoring all Internet traffic sounded like hyperbole. I remember discussing this with a friend back in 2000, when the Echelon rumors had gotten some traction. I just find it unbelievable, but now it is an undeniable fact.

I feel the same way now. Just a few months ago, I would have thought it ridiculous if you said that three weeks of events in Canada could lead to martial law, bank accounts frozen, and protest donors prosecuted for financing terrorism. But what was unbelievable then has become undeniable now.

I don't know what radical consequences these actions of Trudeau will plant, but this will be a worldwide event. If someone makes a documentary in the future, these events will be the opening lines of the documentary.

Of course, no matter what leads us to the future in the end, but it is clear at the moment, I was too hasty in the past, and I completely negated the crypto market based on those shortcomings, instead of seeing the bright side, isn’t it right for people to be able to trade freely? Our most basic protection?

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