Patrick Byrne: Cryptocurrency Will Be Bigger Than the Internet Itself

[jabo38]

1. The blockchain might very well revolutionize many things, but not necessarily Bitcoin.  Bitcoin is just a small example of what the blockchain can do.  Bitcoin is definitely heading towards revolutionizing things.  It will be big, but it might not be the biggest or best use case of the blockchain.  

2.  The blockchain and/or Bitcoin will never be bigger than the internet because they are a slice of it.  To have somebody that is so "smart" use such a poor allegory is kind of frustrating.  Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole.  

One of the leaders of Coinbase gave a more realistic prediction the other day.  He said Bitcoin will revolutionize financial matters to about the same extent that the internet revolutionized the mass media.  The old outlets of mass media like movies, TV, newspapers, books, and magazines still exist today, but the internet has eaten into some of these areas and created whole new areas on its own like blogs, Wikipedia, Youtube, Netflix, iTunes and more, all of which were made possible by the internet.  I wonder what the new blogs, Wikipedia, Youtube, Netflix, and iTunes of bitcoin will be.  Whole new ways of thinking about money, just like the internet gave us a whole new way to think about mass media. 

[rampage101]

Yoga in jail lol... he will have a lot of time to practice soon. Overstock is a joke.

[CryptoClub]

Can something that is built around the internet become bigger than it? I don't think it can. You could compare bitcoin to the rise of the internet, but let's not forget bitcoin relies on it.

I think decentralization can be bigger than the internet is now in the future. Enabling technologies rely on each other however (is the Internet bigger than electricity?), but I think he was just trying to illustrate a point.

[Beliathon]

Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole.  

Myth. Bitcoin can be used without the internet. Paper wallets are one example, physical coins are another, sending bitcoin through SMS (dumb) phones is another, transmitting bitcoin via radio waves is yet another.

Bitcoin can and will be bigger than the internet. Because money is far, far bigger than the internet. Not everyone on this planet is online, but everyone uses money.

[Ruthful]

Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole.  

Myth. Bitcoin can be used without the internet. Paper wallets are one example, physical coins are another, sending bitcoin through SMS (dumb) phones is another, transmitting bitcoin via radio waves is yet another.

Bitcoin can and will be bigger than the internet. Because money is far, far bigger than the internet. Not everyone on this planet is online, but everyone uses money.

Your suggestion basically makes bitcoin more of a hassle to use than the thing you want it to replace(money ).Sure, almost everyone on Earth uses money but bitcoin isn't money, at least not in its current state and even less so in the diminished capacity that you describe.

[Beliathon]

Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole.  

Myth. Bitcoin can be used without the internet. Paper wallets are one example, physical coins are another, sending bitcoin through SMS (dumb) phones is another, transmitting bitcoin via radio waves is yet another.

Bitcoin can and will be bigger than the internet. Because money is far, far bigger than the internet. Not everyone on this planet is online, but everyone uses money.

Your suggestion basically makes bitcoin more of a hassle to use than the thing you want it to replace(money ).Sure, almost everyone on Earth uses money but bitcoin isn't money, at least not in its current state and even less so in the diminished capacity that you describe.

You're mistakenly assuming that bitcoin on the net and bitcoin offline are mutually exclusive. That is not the case. And bitcoin is not only money, it is the best form of money ever to exist.

[Ruthful]

You're mistakenly assuming that bitcoin on the net and bitcoin offline are mutually exclusive. That is not the case. And bitcoin is not only money, it is the best form of money ever to exist.

I never assumes such a thing.However,Bitcoin's success  rides on the convenience that the internet provides(the same way credit card's rides upon the innovation of global telecommunication network).Without it bitcoin would become more cumbersome, thus becomes quite inefficient and far less attractive than conventional form of money.

As to whether or not bitcoin is the best form of money to exist , that still remains to be seen.

[jabo38]

Can something that is built around the internet become bigger than it? I don't think it can. You could compare bitcoin to the rise of the internet, but let's not forget bitcoin relies on it.

I think decentralization can be bigger than the internet is now in the future. Enabling technologies rely on each other however (is the Internet bigger than electricity?), but I think he was just trying to illustrate a point.

Yes, and Youtube today is bigger than the entire internet in 1998.  But Youtube today is not bigger than the internet of today.  

I sincerely hope that bitcoin and other blockchains and the decentralization movement in 10 years is bigger than the whole internet today.  That would mean two things.  1. that democratization of money and contracts has happened. 2. I will be rich. hehehe

Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole.  

Myth. Bitcoin can be used without the internet. Paper wallets are one example, physical coins are another, sending bitcoin through SMS (dumb) phones is another, transmitting bitcoin via radio waves is yet another.

Bitcoin can and will be bigger than the internet. Because money is far, far bigger than the internet. Not everyone on this planet is online, but everyone uses money.

I'm not exactly sure if you really understand Bitcoin.  All of those things your mentioned all just connect right back to the blockchain which is on the internet.  For instance there is no such thing as a paper blockchain made of paper wallets, or a physical blockchain made of physical bitcoins, or SMS blockchain that works with SMS, or a radio wave blockchain that works with radio waves.  Yes, not all aspects of Bitcoin exist solely on the internet, but for them to be a part of Bitcoin, they must eventually connect back to the internet and the blockchain that lives within it.  So in the case that a small aspect of Bitcoin is turned into a physical bitcoin, or paper wallet or radio wave, all those things are just representations of what is happening on the blockchain within the internet.  

[Ruthful]

snip

Technically/technologically , it is possible to built a network completely separate from the internet based on  what Beliathon suggest ,  unfortunately it would be so unwieldy, so slow,so much more work needed(infrastucture,interface ,funding etc) that you might as well kill bitcoin right ahead than put it through such sorry state of existence(for younger readers think Voldermort from "The Philosopher's Stone").Bitcoin in that state would never be  a threat let alone replace the comtemporary currencies he so loathed.

[jabo38]

snip

Technically/technologically , it is possible to built a network completely separate from the internet based on  what Beliathon suggest ,  unfortunately it would be so unwieldy, so slow,so much more work needed(infrastucture,interface ,funding etc) that you might as well kill bitcoin right ahead than put it through such sorry state of existence(for younger readers think Voldermort from "The Philosopher's Stone").Bitcoin in that state would never be  a threat let alone replace the comtemporary currencies he so loathed.

yes, technically speaking we could have a centralized paper blockchain with people flipping through pages and mailing paper wallets back and forth. but.......

[BootstrapCoinDev]

All of the Overstock customers now have their wealth destroyed by Bitcoin in their sleep last night. What a wonderful public relations tactic. Maybe when your suicide cult followers are all dead then your earnings will go up a whole quarter per share.

[bitsmichel]

All of the Overstock customers now have their wealth destroyed by Bitcoin in their sleep last night. What a wonderful public relations tactic. Maybe when your suicide cult followers are all dead then your earnings will go up a whole quarter per share.

If the Overstock customers do not own the private keys then they got Goxxed. 

Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole. 

Myth. Bitcoin can be used without the internet. Paper wallets are one example, physical coins are another, sending bitcoin through SMS (dumb) phones is another, transmitting bitcoin via radio waves is yet another.

Bitcoin can and will be bigger than the internet. Because money is far, far bigger than the internet. Not everyone on this planet is online, but everyone uses money.

Cryptocurrrency can and will grow far bigger than the internet. We are in the beginning of a new wave in technology. Bitcoins are not just digital coins, they are the start of a completely new technological era.

[TrailingComet]

Patrick is talking his own book as usual, bloke owns a few mn worth of btc
Not saying I disagree though

[Chef Ramsay]

As long as Byrne is operating his biz in a legal way there's nothing the pissed off people in DC can do to him in terms of jailing him. Not to mention, I'm sure he's got a top shelf litigation team and he doesn't seem to be a criminal in any way. Furthermore, it's not like he has to live here in the US if he doesn't want to. He can join the rest of the bunch that's went offshore.

[btc-facebook]

snip

Technically/technologically , it is possible to built a network completely separate from the internet based on  what Beliathon suggest ,  unfortunately it would be so unwieldy, so slow,so much more work needed(infrastucture,interface ,funding etc) that you might as well kill bitcoin right ahead than put it through such sorry state of existence(for younger readers think Voldermort from "The Philosopher's Stone").Bitcoin in that state would never be  a threat let alone replace the comtemporary currencies he so loathed.

It would not make any sense to do this. It would increase costs if you were to build a new/separate network just to relay messages like this

[jabo38]

Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole. 

Myth. Bitcoin can be used without the internet. Paper wallets are one example, physical coins are another, sending bitcoin through SMS (dumb) phones is another, transmitting bitcoin via radio waves is yet another.

Bitcoin can and will be bigger than the internet. Because money is far, far bigger than the internet. Not everyone on this planet is online, but everyone uses money.

Cryptocurrrency can and will grow far bigger than the internet. We are in the beginning of a new wave in technology. Bitcoins are not just digital coins, they are the start of a completely new technological era.
[/quote]

Okay, I need some clarity here. 

Cryptocurrrency can and will grow far bigger than the internet.

Again, cryptocurrencies are digital, the internet is the home of the digital.  How can cryptocurrency ever possibly be bigger than the internet?  For example think of the internet as a pie, crypto as a slice.  The slice may never be bigger than the whole pie. 

Bitcoins are not just digital coins, they are the start of a completely new technological era.

So they aren't just digital?  What are they?  Made of gas, fire, dirt?  They are indeed digital tokens and nothing more.  Even a paper wallet or physical bitcoin is just a physical world representation of the digital token, but without the core digital token the paper wallet or physical bitcoin is worthless. 

And yes, we are at the start of a completely new technological era.  The blockchain is absolutely amazing.  The changes it will bring are things we aren't even aware of yet.  But it is just a digital token.  The thing that is amazing is that because it is a digital token it can now do things and be programmable in ways that tokens in an analog world were not.  Times are changing.

[Wulfcastle]

Bitcoin and the blockchain are currently existing as just a section of the internet and there for a part can't be bigger than its whole.  

Myth. Bitcoin can be used without the internet. Paper wallets are one example, physical coins are another, sending bitcoin through SMS (dumb) phones is another, transmitting bitcoin via radio waves is yet another.

Bitcoin can and will be bigger than the internet. Because money is far, far bigger than the internet. Not everyone on this planet is online, but everyone uses money.

Hypothetically if the internet didn't exist, where would we "download" the blockchain from?

[rampage101]

As long as Byrne is operating his biz in a legal way there's nothing the pissed off people in DC can do to him in terms of jailing him. Not to mention, I'm sure he's got a top shelf litigation team and he doesn't seem to be a criminal in any way. Furthermore, it's not like he has to live here in the US if he doesn't want to. He can join the rest of the bunch that's went offshore.

Except that Overstock is "cooking the books".

Wonder why Overstock has a P/E ratio of 5? Because the market still assumes Overstock is making up numbers:

http://www.sequenceinc.com/fraudfiles/2007/08/overstockcom-cooking-the-books/

"The bottom line is this: Byrne and Overstock management have made statements about their inventory that cannot possibly all be true. They are in conflict and cannot coexist, therefore at least some of the statements must be false."

Expect yoga in jail soon.

[TheLoser]

Everything is bigger in the future.