Read_939 - Modern Money Only Works By Cheating - Part 2
Bitcoin Audible
Coordination, not mathematics, is the constraint
Hendry argues upgrading security is possible but coordination and costs make adaptation difficult.
“what matters now is not belief, but endurance.
bitcoin does not promise comfort. it does not promise justice. it does not promise to save anyone. it offers one thing only: a set of rules that do not bend to price, politics, or persuasion. whether that is valuable depends entirely on who is holding it and why.
the mathematics will almost certainly hold long enough. the question has always been whether we will.”
~ Hugh Hendry
Today, we are back with part two of Tyler Durden's piece "Modern Money Only Works By Cheating".
Most people think the ultimate danger to Bitcoin is quantum computers cracking the math. But this article highlights something far scarier: human coordination. I read through the rest of the essay, which asks a brutal question. If Bitcoin ever needs to change to survive a threat, can a network built on resisting authority act together without a leader? Or will we just splinter into stubborn factions?
Because Bitcoin's rules don't bend, the pressure falls entirely on us. I share my thoughts on the read, explaining why the Block Size War was a preview of this exact test, and where I push back heavily on the author's defense of fiat money.
Check out the original article: Modern Money Only Works By Cheating by Tyler Durden (Link: https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/modern-money-only-works-cheating-if-youre-long-bitcoin-or-not-long-bitcoin-read)
References from the episode
- Part 1 of this Read -- go back and catch up if you haven't. (Link: https://fountain.fm/episode/UN8NHIQ3tR9tdc9ER89h)
- Hugh Henry's article Bitcoin in the Problem of Hardness on his Substack -- that's the main one we dove into. (Link: https://hughhendry.substack.com/p/bitcoin-and-the-problem-of-hardness)
- Hugh's other piece Bitcoin and the Human Problem is worth a read for the full picture. (Link: https://hughhendry.substack.com/p/5f0)
Host Links
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- The Guy Swann Network Broadcast Room on Keet (Link: https://tinyurl.com/3na6v839)
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“Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create.”
~ Maria Montessori
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