• Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, does not believe in cryptocurrencies, calling them a vehicle for scams and a Ponzi scheme.
  • Torvalds was once rumored to be Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, but he clarified it was a joke and denied owning a Bitcoin fortune.
  • Torvalds also dismissed the idea of technological singularity as a bedtime story for children, saying continuous exponential growth does not make sense.
  • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    168
    ·
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    Linus Torvalds, creator of Linux, does not believe in cryptocurrencies, calling them a vehicle for scams and a Ponzi scheme.

    To be fair, that’s because Crypto is a vehicle for scams, and a Ponzi scheme.

    • JackbyDev@programming.dev
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      30
      ·
      7 months ago

      The line about safety regulations being written in blood? Financial regulations are written in bankruptcies.

    • JohnnyCache
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      7 months ago

      I’m pretty sure most scams and ponzi schemes use US dollars.

      • merc@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        10
        ·
        7 months ago

        Interestingly, for a currency to actually be useful, there needs to be a demand for it, something that you can only pay for in that currency. For real currencies that is normally taxes. England only accepts taxes paid in pounds, so there’s a demand for pounds from every person who has to pay taxes in England. For crypto, extortion is basically the only source of demand.

        Sure, occasionally there are places that accept both real currencies and crypto currencies, but for legit businesses almost none of the revenue comes from the crypto side. But, for ransomware, etc. the hackers only accept crypto. That means there’s a demand for crypto, which means that it has some value.

    • FiskFisk33@startrek.website
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      7 months ago

      I’m not gonna put my foot down for either side here but, to be completely fair here, so is for example the us dollar.