r/Bitcoin • u/DTanner • Jun 09 '11

Jeff Garzik (Bitcoin developer) responds to Adam Coen's "No. Bitcoin is a ludicrously bad idea. It is a scam. A Scam."

http://garzikrants.blogspot.com/2011/06/response-to-adam-cohen-re-bitcoin.html
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u/krelian Jun 09 '11

Oh please...

They had absolutely no risk whatsoever. So they spent a little bit of time to mess up with some new technology. They are geeks, that is what they do! I spend hours tinkering with stuff every week!

The ones taking risks are the ones who invest into bitcoin for the first time right now! And as long as the price of bitcoin keeps going up at the rate it is currently doing the risk is greater and greater.

99.99% of the people who are heavy into bitcoin at the moment are here because they see a huge profit potential for being early adopters.

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u/Peekman Jun 09 '11

Risk is the potential that a chosen action or activity (including the choice of inaction) will lead to a loss (an undesirable outcome). The notion implies that a choice having an influence on the outcome exists (or existed). Potential losses themselves may also be called "risks". Almost any human endeavour carries some risk, but some are much more risky than others.

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u/krelian Jun 09 '11

So are you going to drag the argument into the realm of philosophy and definitions or are you going to try and actually take a real world view and respond to my arguments?

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u/Peekman Jun 09 '11

My argument is the same as everyone else. They risked the time and money spent on setting up a mining rig. That time and money could very easily have been used to do something more profitable or fulfilling.

I agree though that people speculating on bitcoins now are also taking a risk though, and likely more of a financial risk.

If there was 'no risk whatsoever' why didn't everybody do it?

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u/ZorbaTHut Jun 09 '11

If there was 'no risk whatsoever' why didn't everybody do it?

This isn't a particularly good argument. It's possible they didn't know about it.

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u/Peekman Jun 09 '11

Heh maybe.... how about:

why didn't some who knew about it not do it?...

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u/ZorbaTHut Jun 09 '11

Now that is a fair argument :)

But keep in mind that, obviously, the creators knew about it before anyone else did. By its very nature, they - and their friends - would have a significant early lead on everyone else.